› added 7 years ago

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TIL that a contractor won a tender to rebuild part of the MacArthur Maze interchange in San Francisco with a bid of just over $876,000 - about a third of the projected cost. By completing the rebuild more than a month ahead of schedule, the contractor pocketed a $5 million bonus.

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6Epvm TIL Grammy-winning reggae artist Shaggy served in the United States Marine Corps from 1988-1991 and was deployed to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. He reached the rank of Lance Corporal, but was later demoted for returning to base late from a weekend trip to his music studio
xZr1 TIL that U.S. President Thomas Jefferson was also: a lawyer, an architect, president of the American Philosophical Society, a speaker of 5 languages, founder of the Univ. of VA., inventor of the swivel chair, and author to what is considered the most important American book published before 1800.
XENk6 Today I Learned that the worlds biggest collection of Nash Motors automobiles(about 268 of them) rests 450 feet under water in Lake Michigan when the ship carrying them was struck by another and sank.
69ykm TIL that Napster was active for just 2 years, from June 1999 to July 2001
9w0Kr TIL the Japanese word "saboru". In the early 1900s, "sabotage" caught on in Japan to describe industrial actions. However, it was shortened and took on a different meaning: "cutting classes" or "skipping work". Now it’s so casually used that even some native speakers don’t realize it’s a loanword.