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TIL that in 1948, Congress authorized a study on heart health. The town of Framingham, MA was selected and residents began what is now one of the longest longitudinal medical studies in history. Five generations later, the Framingham Heart Study continues to provide valuable insights.

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WkL5Y TIL that in the 1936 Olympic games, boxer Thomas Hamilton-Brown lost his opening bout so went on an eating binge to console himself. An error was soon discovered and it turned out he didn't lose, but was disqualified from competition because he had gained so much weight from binge eating.
jNAyp TIL in Fahrenheit 451 the gov't didn't burn books because they were an oppressive dictatorship. The people voted to ban the books because they had short attention spans didn't want to be offended
bdbj TIL a think tank at Oxford University believes that the prison industry may begin exploring psychoactive drugs that elongate the perception of time, either reducing actual incarceration times or making sentences for heinous crimes feel like an eternity.
Ypvgd TIL of The Conqueror, a 1956 movie produced by Howard Hughes, starring John Wayne and filmed downwind from a nuclear weapons testing site. 91 crew members later developed cancer including Wayne and his two sons. Panned by critics, Hughes purchased every print to keep it out of circulation.
b9P7E TIL that Svetlana Savitskaya—the second woman in space—arrived at Mir (first modular space station) in 1982, she was greeted with an apron as a welcome present, and jokingly told to get to work in the kitchen by her fellow cosmonauts.