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TIL Dust jackets for hard cover books were originally only meant to protect the book from dust and damage, and were not the main focus. As time went on, they shifted from protection to decoration; however you're still supposed to take them off while reading.

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wLw46 TIL a poem by Simon Armitage removed more than two tonnes of pollution from the environment. The poem In Praise Of Air, on display at Sheffield University, was printed on specially treated material capable of purifying the air around it through catalytic oxidation.
X041E TIL that in 2000 it was estimated that between 230,000 to 284,000 iatrogenic deaths occurred annually in the USA.
4xyR TIL Google once created an AI and when asked what the meaning of living is it replied “to live forever”.
ne7Vd TIL: 1,500 YouTube views count as an album sale in the US
0wlWj TIL Current theory is Venus initially spun anticlockwise. In a way, still does, but upside down. It flipped its axis 180 degrees at some point. Theory: Sun's gravitational pull on Venus' atmosphere caused strong atmospheric tides that combined w/ friction between Venus' mantle and core, flipping it.