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TIL that there is evidence that the British Admiralty deliberately send the luxury liner Lusitania into waters patrolled by German U-boats in the hope that the ship would be attacked and sunk with Americans on board, thus drawing the US into WWI. 1,198 people drowned, inc. many women and children

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gMJBX TIL that to celebrate Fiji's annexation in 1874, Governor Hercules Robinson took Fijian King Cakobau and his two sons to Sydney. All three came down with measles, but the colonial administrators did not quarantine the ship; a measles epidemic would kill about 1/3 of Fiji's population.
e0Bp6 TIL the Looney Toons Golden Collection DVDs have a disclaimer at the beginning given by Whoopi Goldberg explaining that the cartoons are a product of their time and contain ethnic stereotypes that have not been censored because editing them would be the same as denying the stereotypes ever existed
e0yXE TIL In the 90s, "Cheers" lookalike bars were built in airports across the county, complete with animatronic patrons inspired by Norm and Cliff, which triggered George Wendt and John Ratzenberger to sue for copyright and trademark infringement.
oRyQ8 TIL Sunday Times took its name not because it was related to Times, but to take advantage of its name. Both papers ran separately for more than a century until they were bought by Canadian billionaire.
Ooyp4 TIL Joe Kennedy, JFK's father, made a fortune as a stock market and commodity investor before cashing in all his stocks just days before the stock market crash of 1929. Consequentially, he was one of the few people who vastly increased their fortune during the great depression.