› added 12 years ago

156

TIL that in April 2011, Oklahoma passed a law allowing only the Deceased to access their own Death Certificates without a court order.

Read more upfront.ngsgenealogy.org

via reddit.com

kOyPE TIL about the melon drop scam, a con that targeted Japanese tourists. Scammers would buy a watermelon for a low price and then bump into an Asian tourist and charge them about $100 for the broken melon. This is due to the higher fruit prices in Japan. These days the scam involves any broken item.
R5kZa TIL: film critics Siskel & Ebert had a policy of never taking photos with popcorn or movie candy because they believed it devalued the seriousness and artistic integrity of films.
69LkY TIL that Alexander Hamilton who is on the $10 bill is not a native born American but was born in the British Leeward Island (now St. Kitts & Nevis)
EA7x TIL the US Patent Office building was the only major government building to survive the British burning of Washington DC during the War of 1812.Superintendent Dr. William Thorton persuaded the British that they’d be destroying the shared intellectual record of mankind if the patents were burned
1aGxX TIL that in New York City, while its delicious bagels are not subject to a sales tax if they are whole, buying an ‘altered’ (i.e. sliced or with cream cheese) bagel will increase the sales tax by 8¢.