› added 9 years ago

2156

TIL - In an effort to solve the extremely high corruption rate problem, Georgia (the country) once fired it’s ENTIRE police force. It turned out that the police WERE the problem and the move actually worked, as the country’s corruption almost vanished in the following three months with no police.

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rNKXM TIL during the Civil War, the US government started printing bills in fractional dollars, rather than coins, due to a metal shortage. Congress passed a law forbidding living people to be on money after the bills' designer put his own face on them, rather than a US president's.
Brbkd TIL as of the end of the 2018 climbing season, 295 people have died climbing Everest, while there have been 9,159 successful summit climbs by 5,294 people
Y7LQ7 TIL James Longstreet, one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Lee, became an anathema to many Confederates post-war due to his support for the Republican Party as well as critical comments he wrote about Lee's wartime performance
wv68 TIL that the first Sikh American/Asian American/Indian American to be elected to Congress was Dalip Singh Saund, who served in Congress from January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1963. Saund was also the first member of a non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to Congress.
Lkge9 TIL that FDR’s grandfather, Warren Delano, made the Roosevelt family fortune by smuggling opium into China throughout the 19th century. A “fair, honorable, and legitimate” trade, according to him.