› added 1 year ago

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TIL bank reports for cases of check fraud in the US (for both business and personal accounts) more than tripled between 2018 (135,968 cases) and 2022 (451,852 cases).

r5lx TIL Gin descends from a juniper liquor first distilled in Belgium or Holland. During the Thirty Years’ War, England’s army saw Dutch soldiers fortifying themselves for battle by drinking genever. They brought this so-called “Dutch courage” back home.
8LVb TIL Nancy Green, born into slavery in 1834, was hired in 1890 to represent “Aunt Jemima”, an advertising character named after a song from a minstrel show. In 1893 Green was introduced as Aunt Jemima at the World’s Columbian Exposition, where it was her job to operate a pancake-cooking display.
VAD8 TIL Wellington didn’t win the Battle of Waterloo and ruined people who knew better. The Prussian General Blücher won the battle and his name of the battle (Battle of Belle Alliance) should be remembered, as the victor has the right to name the battle.
yQZAv TIL about the Great California flood of 1862 - which submerged Sacramento under 10 feet of water and turned California’s Central Valley into a vast inland sea spanning 300 miles long, 20 miles wide and 30 feet deep. It killed thousands, bankrupted the state and historically happens every 200 years.
R7O7Q TIL The moon was created in a huge planetary collision 4.5 billion years ago. It was initially 22,000 km away, and an Earth day was 5 hours long. Due to tidal action, the moon has gradually moved away to 400,000 km, and slowed the Earth's spin to a 24 hour day.