› added 13 years ago

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TIL the Ekranoplan was a secret Soviet weapon that was almost a football field in length, “flew” above the water at only a few feet, and had six missile launchers.

jNAen TIL activists tried to eliminate birthright citizenship from the constitution in 1942 to strip Japanese-Americans of their citizenship, claiming their “racial characteristics” made them “unfit for American citizenship.” It was defeated thanks to a coalition between the JACL, NAACP, and ACLU.
mokv TIL Blackcurrant fruit was banned in the United States in 1911 because the plant carries a disease that affects native White Pine trees. Whole forests were wiped out due to the disease. Because of the ban, not lifted until 2003, the flavor is relatively unknown in the US.
WrYB TIL that a fainting room was a private room, of which its main features/furniture were fainting couches, used during the Victorian era, to make women more comfortable during the home treatment of female hysteria. Fainting rooms were used for more privacy during home treatment pelvic massages.
o6K7 TIL in 2016, Amsterdam Police officers broke down a door to rescue a woman in lingerie standing listlessly at a window. Worried she may be hurt, they first tried to get her attention by ringing the doorbell and banging on the door. They then broke the door down to discover she was a blow-up sex doll
kV4g TIL that A tablespoon of soil has more living organisms than there are people on Earth right now.