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TIL that the idea that the federal government can regulate almost any business was established in a 1942 Supreme Court case. Since a farmer could theoretically sell produce over state lines, the US government had the authority to control what he could grow.

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5gvn TIL that Eugenics was widely practiced in the United States, years before Nazi Germany, including forced sterilization, feeding of TB infected milk, and the consideration of gas chambers
9wQ1B TIL in December of 1996, a crime novelist was found hanged by a noose from his Chicago office window. Although officially ruled to be suicide, several items were found on him including a bulletproof vest, brass knuckles, mace and an unfinished novel that oddly contained a similar suicide scene.
VObD TIL a plague wiped out millions of Native Americans just before the pilgrims came, leaving the new settlers cleared land and fields already planted with corn
Q9B9 TIL Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, originally named Reginald, began 75 years ago as a promotional coloring book gimmick during the Great Depression. Over the years, Rudolph had a son named Robbie, a brother named Rusty, and another cranky and overweight brother called Ralph.
eYdE TIL that Russia’s answer to Eurovision was called Intervision and it was judged by Electricity Grid Voting: “Those watching at home had to turn their lights on when they liked a song and off when they didn’t, with data from the electricity network then being used to allocate points”