› added 11 years ago

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TIL Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship against unanimous opposition: the local govt said it was a ploy to conscript Puerto Ricans for WWI. If Puerto Rico became a state today, it would have a higher population than 22 existing states.

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v160x TIL President Ronald Reagan revealed he wore hearing aids in 1983, leading to greater acceptance and increased sales of the devices among seniors. At age 72, he said that his hearing loss dated to his early Hollywood days when a .38-caliber blank was fired close to his right ear on a film set
8erK TIL An old dump in California has been turned into a beach of polished sea glass by the ocean
VBXGZ TIL that in 1961 Fender produced the Bass VI, a 6-string electric bass tuned an octave below a regular guitar. Although it was produced for 14 years, it was never popular, and was discontinued in 1975. However, it became a cult hit among bassists and guitarists and was re-released in the mid-2000s.
BrZ9L TIL that in 1916 there was a proposed Amendment to the US Constitution that would put all acts of war to a national vote, and anyone voting yes would have to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.
n0wY TIL on April Fools Day 1976, English astronomer Patrick Moore stated to radio listeners that due to “a conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto” gravity would noticeably decrease on Earth. Shortly after, the BBC received hundreds of calls from people reporting they had felt the decrease in gravity.