› added 12 years ago

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TIL Food Stamps are the best form of economic stimulus (far ahead of tax cuts)

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via reddit.com

9KPM TIL the word “Jumbo” alludes to a remarkably large circus elephant. The word did not exist in the English language prior to the circus attraction, which came to a halt when Jumbo was hit by a Canadian train and killed. As a result, Barnum attempted to sue the railway for $100,000.
xm7o TIL the standard diameter of a CD is 12cm because it must hold all of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
kMme TIL that heroin used to be a registered trademark of Bayer Pharmaceuticals before being genericized in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles
p8g9Q TIL that the town of Palisade, Nevada staged gunfights, bank robberies, and Native American raids during the 1870's to attract tourists as the Transcontinental Railroad was built. The truth was known only by the town, and in reality, the town did not even have a sheriff due to its low crime rate.
l7lOa TIL that the Pan Am plane in the Tenerife disaster was also the first Boeing 747 to fly commercially, as well as being the first 747 to be hijacked. It was named 'Clipper Victor.'