› added 4 years ago

111

TIL that Richard Nixon was indirectly involved in the creation of professional women's tennis. After he banned cigarette ads from radio and television in 1970, Virginia Slims needed another way to reach young women smokers so they helped create and sponsor the first women-only tennis tournaments.

Read more usta.com

via reddit.com

9YRkp TIL Town Line, NY seceded from the Union during the Civil War, contributing a handful of soldiers to the Confederacy. Curiously, it never rejoined the Union as it was not a formally recognized municipality before the war. It "officially" rejoined the Union in 1946 on a vote of 90 to 23.
1aMQP TIL that Vermont was it's own independent country with it own coinage and postal service for 14 years before being admitted into the Union. Even though they took part in the Revolutionary war, they were not part of the original 13 colonies due to a border dispute with New York.
9WdM TIL The last movie ever rented from Blockbuster was “This is the End,” a 2013 comedy about the apocalypse.
ORK6 TIL The simultaneous releases of Antz and A Bug’s life was due to Jeffrey Katzenberg being denied the position of President at Disney, and stealing their idea to start Dreamworks.
DyBP TIL William Kamkwamba built a windmill from gum trees, bicycle parts, and scrap finds, to power his family’s farm. Though he didn’t know English, he learned to built the windmill from English books and diagrams. Later, he dug a well and built an irrigation system, which helped grow crops more often.