› added 3 years ago

108

TIL that chocolate was classified as “candy” under the Revenue Acts of 1918 and 1921, and so it was taxed as such. Hershey’s sued to recover about $8,000,000 in taxes by arguing it was “food”, and so had been wrongly taxed. The Supreme Court ruled it was “candy”.

Read more loc.gov

via reddit.com

R7ZK6 TIL that This American Life recently became the first recipient of a Pulitzer Prize awarded for audio journalism. For context, the Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 and the first radio broadcast was in 1920. 100 years and never awarded to a radio show.
XE4bP TIL: In 1696, William III introduced a tax which required those living in houses with more than 6 windows to pay a levy.To avoid this, house owners would brick up all windows except 6. As the bricked-up windows prevented rooms from receiving any sunlight, the tax was known as daylight robbery.
V9Lk TIL that in 2011, Adam Sandler won the Golden Raspberry Award for BOTH worst male and female actor for his role in Jack and Jill
KOABa TIL during a training exercise, an F-106 fighter jet entered a flat spin, causing the pilot to bail out. Instead of crashing, the jet continued flying and landed on its belly in a field, only suffering minor damages.
OoBnR TIL Queen Elizabeth II is the only living head of state to have served in World War II