› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the average workweek for a manufacturing employee in the 1890s was 100 hours. The five day, 40-hour workweek didn't become standard until 1940 thanks to the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which required employers to pay overtime to anyone working more than 40 hours.

rMbe TIL in 1927 PEZ dispensers, known as “regulars,” were similar in shape to a cigarette lighter and dispensed an adult breath mint marketed as an alternative to smoking.
P1gxe TIL of Snap-dragon, a parlour game from the 16th century. In a dark room, brandy was heated and placed in a wide shallow bowl; raisins were placed in the brandy which was then set alight. The object was to snatch the raisins and extinguish them in your mouth. Kids often burned their hands & mouths.
ANQAn TIL Due to the occupation of Portugal by Napoleonic forces, the Portuguese ruling class fled to Brazil with Rio de Janeiro functioning as the capital of the Portuguese Empire. The move allowed unprecedented growth and development to the city, and helped lay the foundation of Brazilian independence.
VrR0 TIL when Einstein was told of the publication of a book entitled, ‘100 Authors Against Einstein’, he replied: “Why one hundred? If I were wrong, one would have been enough.”
oV9o TIL that there was a computer worm that would gain access to Windows XP systems, download a patch from Microsoft to close the vulnerability that it used to infect the system, attempt to delete the infamous Blaster worm (if present) from the system, then delete itself.