› added 12 years ago

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TIL that when the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings, the Canadian Government stepped in and wanted to block the trade.

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QvYa TIL Homer Hickam, subject of the movie October Sky, gave a high school junior a scholarship to the United States Advanced Space Academy when she was expelled and arrested for an exploding science experiment because Hickam went through the same ordeal for testing rockets in his youth.
LkGK0 TIL of the California Fur Rush, which occurred in the early to mid 19th century. It happened due to large beaver and otter populations and helped open up the West and especially the San Francisco area to world trade. However, this drove many mammal populations to the brink of extinction.
Br79r TIL that in Cape Town, a cannon has been fired everyday since 1806 to signal noon. It was traditionally used so that ships could set their chronometers.
69rKw TIL why 33⅓ LPs have small center holes and 45s have large ones. It's the result of a format war between Columbia Records and RCA, which gave 45s a larger hole to work better with automated record changers. Spindle adapters were later invented so both formats can play on the same turntable.
69Pn8 Til that Thailand bans the sale of alcohol on election days.