› added 13 years ago

114

TIL That the smell of rain is caused by a bacteria

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781eZ TIL Vice President Andrew Johnson gave his inaugural address while drunk
N7O16 TIL that Johnny Cash wasn't born with a first name, just the initials J. D.
rjE4 TIL Down’s syndrome has been disappearing in Iceland since prenatal screening tests were introduced in the early 2000s. Almost 100% of women who had a positive test for Down syndrome decided to terminate their pregnancy
n1po TIL: In 1862, Victor Hugo was on vacation when Les Misérables was published. He queried the reaction to the novel by sending a single-character telegram to his publisher, asking “?”. The publisher replied with a single “!” to indicate the success.
mrNM TIL that in 1955, a Sears ad accidentally printed a wrong number for their “Santa hotline”. The number rang up a secret military phone at NORAD, meant to be used in case of a Russian attack. Children called the hotline asking for Santa Claus, and the NORAD Santa Tracker was born.