› added 8 years ago

105

TIL - Thomas Edison considered sleep a waste of time and got 3-4 hours per night. In contrast, Albert Einstein claimed to need 10 hours and Calvin Coolidge, while president, demanded 11!

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pkBO TIL that in 1922, the New York Times reported that “several reliable, well-informed sources confirmed the idea that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was not so genuine or violent as it sounded, and that he was merely using anti-Semitic propaganda to catch masses of followers and keep them aroused”.
Zol4 TIL The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl was actually caused by a drill meant to solve another severe safety issue. The explosion occurred when the reactor was mistakenly almost allowed to shut off, then pulling out the control rods completely to try to stop the mistaken shutdown.
GGK5 TIL that in 1996, a small town in Utah mistakenly booked the band “Rage Against the Machine” causing a community uproar and inevitably a ban on concerts – Footloose style.
WXEo TIL Singapore has increased the size of its country by 20% since independence by “land reclamation” - the process of creating new land from the ocean.
OojnY TIL of The American Service-Members' Protection Act, AKA "The Hague Invasion Act"