› added 4 years ago

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TIL Andrew Jackson’s wife was attacked as an adulteress and then died during the 1828 Presidential election after falling into deep depression. At her funeral Jackson said, “May God Almighty forgive her murderers. I never can."

xVl91 TIL of the Peanut Butter Hearings of 1959, which took place after the FDA revealed that leading peanut butter products only contained 75% peanuts to cut costs. This enraged the public, who began referring to these products as “peanut-flavored face cream” and standard of at least 90% peanuts was set.
w4M6 TIL that J. R. R. Tolkien might have gotten the idea for a ring that makes its wearer invisible from an ancient, Greek story told by one of Plato’s students about a shepherd discovering such a ring on a cadaver in a cave, and then using it to kill his king
P1gQn TIL just 2 months after 9/11 an Airbus crashed into a Queens neighborhood, killing all 260 people on board and 5 people on the ground. Despite fears of another terror attack the cause was determined to be pilot error leading to mechanical failure.
7757 TIL The Texas Dept. of Transporttion (TxDOT) buys and sows about 30,000 pounds of wildflower seed (including Bluebonnet) each year. The peak wildflower blooming season draws tourists from all across the nation to see the colorful blooms each spring.
kOm5d TIL that in 1961, Goodyear released "illuminated tires" made of a translucent material available in several different colours. Each tire contained 18 light bulbs that would generate an electroluminscent-like glow on the ground and in the wheel wells.