› added 6 years ago

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TIL activists tried to eliminate birthright citizenship from the constitution in 1942 to strip Japanese-Americans of their citizenship, claiming their “racial characteristics” made them “unfit for American citizenship.” It was defeated thanks to a coalition between the JACL, NAACP, and ACLU.

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4XA7a TIL Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, could not imagine anyone using the drug recreationally due to its intense and introspective nature.
9kP6 TIL that as late as the 19th century as many as 2,000 families a day were evicted from their homes in Scotland. Many froze or starved to death where their homes had been.
R7RNQ TIL the largest theft ever investigated by Quebec police was the "Great Maple Syrup Heist" in which 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup, worth $18.7 million, was extracted from 9,571 barrels and replaced with water.
jNgXp TIL that Paul Kern, who was shot in the head in WWI and never slept again, spent about 12 of his 24-hr days clubbing and the worst “side effect” was how much it cost to stay awake all the time.
LkwEd TIL many laugh tracks were made by the Laugh Box machine developed by sound engineer Charles Douglass in 1953.