› added 12 years ago

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TIL that a British sharpshooter nearly killed an unaware George Washington before the Battle of Brandywine, but the shooter decided against it because Washington’s back was turned.

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kOgj5 TIL Boston police sent letters to 3,800 people wanted on charges ranging from shoplifting to drug dealing and invited them to be extras for a movie. 54 showed up, were met by officers posing as employees of a fictitious production company & escorted onto buses which took them to police headquarters
R5Kd4 TIL about "scientific" matchmaking tests Hugo Gernsback proposed in the 1920s, which describes four tests that can be given to a couple to assess whether a marriage will succeed.
yO6M TIL that Japan uses 24 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks per year. China uses 45 billion. That’s 25 million trees per year.
v1k7D TIL generic SNES space shooter “Phalanx” had an old man playing a banjo on the cover, not for any relation to the game itself, but purely as a marketing technique to differentiate itself in the crowded space shooter market. “Banjo man” does not appear in the game at any point.
E1v4o TIL More than 2,500 left-handed people are killed every year from using equipment meant for right-handed people. That’s Crazy!!