› added 7 years ago

100

TIL that at its peak the Justinian Plague was reported to be killing 10,000 people in Constantinople daily.

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LkjZZ TIL that the countries with the highest marijuana user per capita are Canada, Israel and Papua New Guinea
OoNwR TIL of Mesquite, Texas which in 1976 attempted to ban anyone under 17 from going to an arcade. Alladin's Castle (Bally) sued the city and eventually prevailed in a case that went to the Supreme Court. Years later, the city became home to id Software which created Doom/Quake and popularized PC gaming
v1y1B TIL about Edward Bernays: Freud's nephew, a father of modern advertising, who effectively overthrew the Guatemalan Govt. on behalf of United Fruit
WkVXL TIL of “the Tree That Owns Itself.” In 1890, a landowner left an oak tree and the surrounding land to the tree itself. When the original tree was knocked down by a storm in 1940, the new tree was planted from an acorn and is now known as “The Son of the Tree That Owns Itself.”
X0war TIL the earliest known toy trains were made in the 1850s and powered by alcohol fires and real steam. They had the tendency to start house fires due to their fuel leaking and igniting when the toy fell over. Earlier models had no safety valves and would explode due to excess boiler pressure.