› added 4 years ago

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TIL that AstroTurf was originally called ChemGrass and was renamed after the Astrodome in Houston which was the first major sports venue to install artificial turf.

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LklxV TIL: The release of a new Harry Potter book had such an impact that researchers in Oxford found that the admission rate of children with traumatic injuries to the city's emergency rooms plummeted on the publication weekends of both Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince.
bXEQ TIL the word “biweekly” can mean either “twice a week” or “twice a month” and has the potential to cause an epidemic of misunderstandings all across the english speaking world.
gMNY4 TIL Women's Rights aren't Constitutionally protected in America. The amendment was proposed almost 100 years ago and took about 50 years to be passed by Congress. It has been almost 50 since then and the amendment still hasn't been ratified by enough states to pass.
MXym TIL the German equivalent of the FBI considers Scientology a potential threat, alongside Islamism and right- and left-wing extremism.
lVWK TIL that Hippos mark their territory by defecation. While depositing the faeces, hippos spin their tails to distribute their excrement over a greater area.