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TIL The Smoot–Hawley Act of '30 was an attempt to protect the US from foreign competition by imposing high tariffs. The consensus view among economists and historians is that the passage of the Act had, in fact, achieved an opposite effect to what was intended. It exacerbated the Great Depression

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9wOvD TIL that the first woman elected as a state senator in the US was a Mormon who practiced polygamy and won the election by defeating her own husband as her opponent.
p8l0Q TIL that Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr. Gachet sold at auction for the then record price of $82 million in 1990. Since then it has not been seen in public. Its Japanese buyer threatened to have it burnt with his cremation but it is now believed to be owned by a collector in Switzerland.
yQjX8 TIL of the Humongous Fungus, which is currently the oldest known and largest living organism on the planet. It is the biggest mushroom in the world. It covers nearly 2400 acres of forest in Oregon and is believed to be anywhere from 2,400 years – 8,650 years old
YYp7 TIL Franklin D. Pierce, 14th President of the United States, was asked what he would do next as he was leaving office. He replied, “There’s nothing left [to do] but get drunk.” Twelve year later, he died from cirrhosis of the liver.
KOje6 TIL about UY Scuti, the largest-known star by radius. It is 1700 times bigger than our sun, and it would take 1200 years to fly around it in a 900km/h regular passenger airplane. If Earth was in its habitable zone, it would take 10.000 years for one full rotation, each season lasting 2500 years.