› added 10 years ago

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TIL that wristwatches were almost exclusively worn by women, men used pocket-watches. Wristwatches were first worn by military men towards the end of the 19th century as a way to synchronise maneuvers during war without revealing the plan to the enemy through signaling.

v1w87 TIL that President Martin Van Buren is the first and only US President to speak English as a second language, being Dutch his first. He is also the first president that was born after America's Independence from the United Kingdom.
ngxb TIL that “fundamentalist preachers” asked Fred Rogers to denounce homosexuality. In response, Mr. Rogers would pat the target on the shoulder and say, “God loves you just as you are.” Rogers also belonged to a “More Light” congregation of the Presbyterian Church dedicated to welcoming LGBT citizens.
x8WD TIL that Frank Sinatra was contractually obliged to be offered the role of John McClain in Die Hard, despite being 73 years old.
VMdLZ TIL: If you gently press the bottom right corner of your eyeball through the eyelid, you see a little dark spot in the top left of your vision. This is because we see the world upside down, but our brain translate it so it looks right side up to us.
yVlEV TIL that in cities with a chronic nuisance ordinance, properties with tenants who call 911 too often can deemed nuisance by the city which imposes fines on the property owner. This normally leads to evictions and business closures regardless of the fact that the 911 calls were legitimate.