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TIL FDR's first vice-president said the vice-presidency "isn't worth a pitcher of warm piss." His second VP, Harry Truman, said it was as "useful as a cow's fifth teat."

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Qpn6 TIL of target fixation, when a person is concentrating so much on avoiding something that he increases the chances of hitting it. Racecar drivers, fighter pilots, mountain bikers, and others moving at high speed can experience the issue.
YpDlB TIL that the first person to see human chromosomes through a microscope made a counting error, and published a paper in 1923 stating that there were 24 pairs of them. The error remained widely accepted as a scientific fact for 33 years until it was corrected.
4X6pb TIL that in 1986, the American Physical Society held a conference in Las Vegas. Most of the 4000 physicists didn't play at the casinos, resulting in the city's worst week ever, and the organization being asked by the city to never return.
E1pGw TIL while the Apache Wars ended with the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, the last Apache raid into the United States occurred in 1924, and the Mexican Indian Wars continued for another nine years, until the final holdouts were defeated in 1933.
0wVvN TIL in 1869, George Hull hired people to make a stone statue of a man, bury it, then later pretend to discover an ancient giant. The hoax was so lucrative that P.T. Barnum offered $50,000. The owner declined. Barnum had a replica made and said he had the real giant and the owner had the fake.