› added 8 months ago

27

TIL about Emperor Norton I, the only Emperor of the United States of America. He was a San Francisco citizen who declared himself Emperor in 1859, and everyone just went along with it. He was beloved by the people of the city and over 10,000 of them attended his funeral.

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wDk1 TIL in 1983, 90% of US media was controlled by fifty companies; today, 90% is controlled by just six companies.
AmWn TIL 24% of all laws passed by the 110th congress were for renaming post offices.
OoWY6 TIL the musical/film "The Sound of Music" is based on the true story of the Von Trapp, who escaped Nazi-occupied Austria and went on to become a successful travelling singing act.
xVWwB TIL about Garden-Path Sentences such as "The complex houses married and single soldiers and their families." which are grammatically correct but almost always read initially as nonsensical
LkNQv TIL the only two countries that taxes its citizens no matter where they reside in the world are Eritrea and United States