› added 7 years ago

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TIL 11 November is Chinese Singles Day, which evolves from a day to give yourself a nice present into a commercial holiday with billions in sale

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ked7 TIL in 1999 Ted Turner proposed a one-time tax on the rich. He proposed a 14.25% tax on the net worth of all Americans worth 10 million or more. It would have gathered $5.7 Trillion dollars. Due to the growth of wealth among the super-rich, today it would gather $15 Trillion.
v1pZ7 TIL of Vissarion, a Russian mystic and spiritual leader who claims to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. His church has over 10000 followers, of which 4000 live together deep in Siberia. Members are forbidden from using money, eating meat, and vices, all done to prepare for an apocalyptic flood.
jXXM TIL that the rule dictating when to use “fewer” instead of “less” is completely based on the personal preference of a grammarian in the 1770s
QN7od TIL Canada had an ancient glacial lake the size of the Black Sea, contained by an ice sheet. When the ice sheet broke ~9000 yrs ago, the lake drained and dumped enough water into the Atlantic to raise sea levels by 3-9 ft, cool the entire Northern Hemisphere by ~3C, and turn Britain into an island.
oRx4A TIL of NYC's Clean Car Program: after years of unsuccessfully preventing tagging of parked subway cars, NYC changed its approach in 1984. Any cars with graffiti were cleaned within two hours or removed from service. The last graffiti covered car was removed from service on May 12, 1989.