› added 1 year ago

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TIL that the most venomous snake in the world is not a sea snake but the Inland Taipan, from Australia.

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wMbP TIL that when Mart Laar became Prime-Minister of Estonia at age 33, the only economics book he had read was Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose.” He said that it sounded good to him, “so we went ahead and did it.” Estonia now has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU.
yQ4PJ TIL that fearing job losses caused by mechanization, Queen Elizabeth I denied William Lee a patent for his knitting machine in the late 1500s. He had to move to France, where he was granted a patent by Henry IV, the King of France
rNe7d TIL "The Honeymooners", one of the most iconic and influential sitcoms of all time (inspiring The Flintstones for example), only ran for 39 episodes, all airing within a single year.
QJpPX TIL about Eugène Rimmel (1820–1887) a British (but French-born) entrepreneur and parfumier who created the first non-toxic mascara. As of today, in many languages, «Rimmel» and «mascara» are synonyms.
wong7 TIL Dallas' first skyscraper, a 15-story, neo-classical tower built in 1909 was torn down in 2012. The tower's site was replaced by a giant 30-foot fiberglass sculpture of an eyeball. The artist said there’s no deep, hidden meaning but he wanted to make something that speaks to a lot of people