› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the discovery of elements 95 and 96 (americium and curium) was first announced by physicist Glenn Seaborg on the children’s radio show Quiz Kids, in response to one of the children asking whether any new elements had been discovered at the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago during the war

e0Xek TIL Conchobar mac Nessa, the legendary Irish king, was conceived because his mother asked a druid, Cathbad, what that moment was right for, and Cathbad said, "conceiving a king." Cathbad was the only available man for the conception.
lG5a TIL The Gates Foundation spends more on global health each year than the World Health Organization of the United Nations.
jN7KM TIL After a paranoid letter from a fan, J. Edgar Hoover opened up an FBI file on Frank Sinatra that lasted 5 decades. In the file, Sinatra was accused of being a traveller who strived for racial tolerance and consorted with Communists & a mob associate. The file closed when Sinatra died in 1998.
N77dN TIL that traditional Japanese calendars have 24 15-day seasons split into 72 five-day microseasons. Right now is “Farmers drain fields,” followed by “Wild geese return” and “Chrysanthemums bloom.”
PYKxG TIL that in 1984, Burger King ran a commercial featuring a parody of Mr. Rogers. The real Mr. Rogers (a vegetarian) called up the BK vice president, who then ordered the commercials taken off the air at once. Mr. Rogers later met the actor, and told him he was proud of his marvelous job.