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TIL Italy used to be the 4th largest economy on Earth in 1991, behind only the USA, Japan and Germany, however unsustainable budget deficits and massive public debt eventually caught up to them, flatlining their economic growth

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16adW TIL That Houston Texas is the only large city to have no zoning laws which means you can build a bar next to a school or a shooting range next to a gas station etc
XEKR6 TIL Mel Brooks offered the role of Waco Kid (Gene Wilder's character) in Blazing Saddles to John Wayne.
MRyK TIL that according to English law, the “Right to light” states that the owner of a building with windows that have received natural daylight for 20 years or more is entitled to forbid any construction or other obstruction that would deprive him or her of that illumination.
mxn8O TIL helicopter fire fighters (Aerial firefighter) can fill their buckets from local swimming pools. This is helpful when fighting wild fire and there are no lakes nearby. Happens mostly in California.
R7R89 TIL that Buddy Holly's wife, Maria Elena, did not attend his funeral and has never visited his grave site. She blames herself for his passing and said that had she gone on tour with him (she stayed home as she was pregnant), Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane.