› added 6 years ago

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TIL that between 1972 and 1996, every winner of the Kentucky Derby, and most winners of the the Triple Crown, descended from a single stud named "Bonnie Scotland". Notable progeny include Man-O-War, Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Secretariat, California Chrome and, most recently, Justify.

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X0Ejj TIL That there was a plot to kill or kidnap George Washington early in the Revolutionary War - the traitors were from Washington's Life Guards, similar to today's Secret Service. One of the traitors was the first person to be put to death for treason, Thomas Hickey, in front of 20,000 people.
XpBj TIL that Arm & Hammer, the baking soda company, was purchased by Armand Hammer, a business tycoon, who was named after the symbol for the Socialist Labor Party of America - an Arm and Hammer.
m10By TIL of sawstop technology: It's patented by a single manufracturer who doesn't license its use to anyone else in the industry. For years, it was the only patent able to prevent table saw accidents and tried to use their patent rights to prevent making any similar safety system, with partial success
mwao TIL Bayer sold HIV and Hepatitis C contaminated blood products which caused up to 10,000 people in the U.S. alone to contract HIV. After they found out the drug was contaminated, they pulled it off the U.S. market and sold it to countries in Asia and Latin America so they could still make money.
VB4w8 TIL as an April Fool's Day prank in 1980, the BBC said that Big Ben was going to be replaced with a digital display and renamed 'Digital Dave'.