› added 9 years ago

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TIL when Thomas Edison installed the modern electric lighting in the Ponce De Leon Hotel in St Augustine, FL they had to hire extra staff to turn lights on and off for guests that were scared of being shocked.

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VrKm TIL that Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman statesman, possessed an estimated wealth of two trillion USD, which is greater than the total GDP of Russia
9YWeG TIL American soldiers in the Pacific theater of WW2 always used passwords containing the letter 'L' due to Japanese mispronunciation, a word such as lollapalooza would be used and upon hearing the first two syllables come back as 'rorra' would "open fire without waiting to hear the rest".
dan7 TIL from 1575 to 1578, expeditions from England to Canada brought back thousands of tonnes of black rock at huge expense of money and lives, after a Venetian alchemist lied about it containing gold ore. After discovering the true worth, it was used to build a wall around one of Henry VIII’s homes.
8abkX TIL two men sued Aunt Jemima for failing to pay royalties only to lose after having no proof they were heirs of the model Aunt Jemima is based upon.
LvA0 TIL contrary to popular belief, tortoises are in fact turtles rather than part of a separate group.