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TIL the idea of St. Bernard rescue dogs wearing casks of brandy comes from an 1820 British painting. In fact, though alcohol makes one feel warm, it does so by dilating blood vessels, hastening hypothermia. The idea is like "rescuing a burn victim with a keg of lighter fluid and a book of matches."

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1kMr TIL Mile marker 420 was removed by officials in Colorado and replaced with a 419.99 sign because the 420 was stolen so often.
JPXQ TIL McSorley’s Old Ale House, the oldest Irish tavern in New York City (founded 1854) didn’t allow women inside until 1970 when the National Organization of Women sued them for discrimination
P1AEe TIL director Werner Herzog infrequently hosts his own film school that teaches such things as "the art of lockpicking", "The creation of your own shooting permits" and "The exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully" among other things.
VQLZ TIL that the number of fires in the US declined more than 50% from 1981 to 2011, due to reduced smoking and fire-resistant materials, and that only 5% of calls for firefighters are now fires
rNAaw TIL the state of Texas keeps a database of over 500 executed inmate's last words going back to the 1980's