› added 9 years ago

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TIL Children’s books have 50% more rare words in them than does an average showing of adult prime-time television.

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5VlY8 TIL the US Mint has a dollar coin honoring the first home video game system developed in 1966 by Ralph Baer. The obverse features the Statue of Liberty and the reverse depicts the 'Handball' video game.
xVoak TIL There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America with roughly one foot of water
Z8eVB TIL in 1990, Dr. Mary-Claire King discovered the human gene BRCA1 which is linked to breast cancer. Soon after, Myriad Genetics cloned and patented it. She was sent a cease-and-desist letter to stop researching it. Finally in 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that human genes cannot be patented.
m1XAv TIL It is illegal to be drunk in a Pub in the UK.
NXvGe TIL after professional football player Lyle Alzado became enraged, throwing a helmet at another player, the NFL enacted the "Lyle Alzado Rule” that disallowed the use of helmets as a weapon. Years later, Alzado was beset with brain cancer, believing it to be retribution for a profligate lifestyle.