› added 7 years ago

355

TIL the USA was the first country to gain independence from the British Empire.

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rZ0d TIL that there were homeless shelters where you could sleep for 4 pennies in a coffin, hence the name Four Penny Coffin. For 1 penny you could sit on a bench all night but weren’t allowed to fall asleep. For 2 pennies you could sit on a bench and lean on a rope and catch some sleep.
mejR TIL: Nintendo’s Mario is named after the landlord of the warehouse Nintendo was using as their American headquarters, the company had gotten behind in rent payment, prompting an angry visit from Mario, the developers subsequently immortalized him by renaming “Jumpman” to “Mario”.
lo461 TIL that overzealous organ-donation companies removing body parts before an autopsy have made multiple causes of death have become impossible to determine
E1Jdp TIL the ‘X’ shaped Confederate flag was no more than a battle flag and never the adopted flag of the confederacy.
XEjoj TIL that Idaho dropped beavers with parachutes from airplanes because the beavers we're destroying rich people's summer homes.