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TIL two-thirds of private prison contracts have “occupancy guarantees” requiring states to pay a fee if they cannot provide a certain number of inmates.

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rRodM TIL gorillas are in a semi-permanent state of flatulence, meaning they're always farting, due to the bacteria in their gut and the almost 40 pounds of vegetation they consume daily
P7wJ TIL In the 1900s Human Zoos were very popular. They displayed Africans with live animals in “their natural habitat”. Adolf Hitler was the one who put a ban on Human Zoos.
wVo8 TIL that in 1987, 7 million american children vanished. Cause? The IRS started requiring the Social Security Numbers of dependents on tax forms
OgVe TIL that the saying ‘to take with a grain of salt" comes from Pliny the Elder, who wrote about an antidote for a certain poison, having as one of its ingredients a measure of salt. He thought that if an antidote involved salt, then the poison itself should be regarded less seriously than normal.
WdY4 TIL African Grey Parrots can develop minds equivalent to that of children ages 4-6