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TIL that despite all manner of theories and suggestions, Douglas Adams himself has said he chose 42 as ‘the answer to life, the universe and everything’, after simply staring out at his garden and choosing a ‘funny’ number, completely at random.

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PYwAZ TIL about United States v. Darby Lumber Co., a 1941 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld federal min. wage and labor laws. Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce, and can prevent states from using substandard labor practices to gain an economic advantage over other states.
x6l9o TIL Australia doesn't use the solstices and equinoxes to define the seasons, instead it's weather based and each season is 3 full months. Summer is Dec 1 to Feb 28.
1a40d TIL about Crater of Diamonds state park in Arkansas. The strange greenish soil is from an extinct volcano and a local farmer discovered diamonds laying in the dirt. Although the site was professionally mined for a time, it's now a state park where visitors can hunt for diamonds and other gemstones.
W7kvX TIL Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, was a direct descendant of one of the judges who served in the Salem 1690s witch trials.
DaXp TIL a previously owned black slave was asked to calculate the number of seconds in 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours in order to prove equality in intelligence between blacks and whites. Not only did he accomplish the feat in 1.5 minutes, but he included the leap years in his calculations.