› added 10 years ago

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TIL that during America’s eugenics movement some 60,000 people were involuntarily sterilized. The Supreme Court upheld the practice in an opinion written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who wrote that “three generations of imbeciles is enough.”

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rRgVe TIL that Kirsty MacColl died while pushing one of her children out of the way of a speedboat owned by a billionaire. A deckhand claimed he, and not the billionaire was responsible for piloting the boat. He paid a fine of $90 to avoid prison.
JYRo4 TIL that For $45, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing will sell you a 5-lb bag with $10,000 worth of shredded U.S. currency.
kOdW TIL citizens of a small NY town forced McDonalds to renovate (instead of tearing down) the ~200-year-old Georgian mansion it purchased, resulting in a uniquely historic franchise location
5YDAn TIL that Samuel Colt financed his invention and development of the revolver handgun by performing laughing gas demonstrations across the United States and Canada.
wLew7 TIL that over the course of a decade, 20 dismembered human feet have been found on beaches in the Pacific Northwest -- no other types of body parts have been found.