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TIL The USSR was the world's 2nd largest economy post-WW2 & the world's largest exporter of arms. By the 1940's Stalin announced that illiteracy had been eliminated & the USSR would produce the world's 1st satellite, the 1st human being in space & the 1st woman in space.

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4M8a TIL in 1916, there was a Constitutional amendment proposed that would have put declarations of war to a vote, and those voting for war would be forced to volunteer for military service.
lAd5 TIL in Scotland, a group of students went to a modern arts gallery and left a pineapple in an empty exhibit to see if people would think it was art. When they returned four days later, not only was the pineapple was still there, it had been covered with a glass case
yVAX8 TIL Mozart wrote a concerto for flute and harp on commission for a French flutist and his harpist daughter. Mozart was never paid for the pierce and therefore he never wrote for the harp again. In Mozart's 40 concertos, he only wrote once for the combined flute and harp
j04p TIL of a Hepatitis A outbreak at 2 Subway locations in Seattle. The staff weren’t washing their hands properly or using gloves, thus spreading infected fecal matter. One victim, a 6 yr old boy, suffered acute liver failure and required a liver transplant. He was awarded $10 million out of court.
Dv8e TIL Croissants are Austrian, not French.