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TIL that blackcurrants were once grown in the U.S. until their growth was restricted in 1911. The restriction was to protect pine trees from blister rust fungus, which use the plant as a host.

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GEWQ TIL that the documentary The Thin Blue Line ended up getting Randall Dale Adams out of the death penalty and freed from prison after 12 years of being wrongly imprisoned. Adams recieved no compensation from the State of Texas. He went on to advocate against the death penalty.
VMpop TIL Australian prime minister Harold Holt loved swimming and diving so much that when his press secretary expressed concern about this he said, "Look, what are the odds that a PM would drown or be eaten by a shark?". In 1967, Holt went for a swim in the ocean and was never seen again.
OGkp4 TIL Erica Pratt, a 7-year-old girl abducted in Philadelphia in 2002, freed herself from the basement of an abandoned house in less than 24 hours by chewing through the duct tape that bound her and breaking through a screened window to call for help.
4ke6b TIL that while moonshine is illegal nationally in the United States, there are four states where it is legal to create moonshine for personal use - Alaska, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Missouri.
NE98 TIL author Tess Gerritsen wrote a book called Gravity in 1999 about a woman scientist on the ISS who has to escape after satellite debris destroys the station. She sold the rights to New Line in 2000, who attached Alfonso Cuaron to direct. Cuaron has since claimed he came up with the story.