› added 5 years ago

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TIL that Senator John Ashcroft is the only Senator to lose reelection to a dead person. His opponent died in a plane crash 2 weeks before the vote and his name was unable to be taken off the ballot.

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via reddit.com

X06Ok TIL F. Scott Fitzgerald created football's "Two Platoon System," with different offensive and defensive players; before giving Michigan Coach Fritz Crisler the idea in 1945, the same players played both sides of the ball. As a freshman, the 135-pound Fitzgerald didn't make Princeton's team.
m1rjo TIL that humans can maintain only around 150 stable relationships, a concept known as 'Dunbar’s Number'. This theory, proposed by anthropologist Robin Dunbar, suggests that cognitive limitations restrict the number of meaningful social connections we can sustain.
XElQP TIL that powered airships were invented before radio, the Origin of species, and the Lincoln Administration
yvPa TIL that antibiotics are usually not effective for sore throats and common colds as they are caused by viruses rather than bacteria. Taking antibiotics for such illnesses is considered more harmful than beneficial.
eOn5 TIL that the phrase “third world” was coined during the Cold War and refers to any country not involved in the competition of democracy vs communism at the time.