› added 11 years ago

85

TIL that half of the uranium used in US power plants comes from recycled Russian nuclear weapons under an agreement that actually runs out this year.

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8A4b TIL that LifeLock, an ID protection firm, ran a promotional in which its CEO, being so confident in the service, made his Social Security Number public. This resulted in him being the victim of identity theft 13 times, in addition to a $12 million fine for false advertising.
dWlK TIL Anaxarchus, disciple of Pythagoras, bit off his own tongue and spat it in the face of Nicocreon, tyrant of Cyprus while under torture to reveal the secrets of his order. [Pliny]
wLBNM TIL That the chair has been around for nearly 5,000 years. The earliest example in the form of a sculpture from the Cycladic Islands at approximately 2,700 B.C. which was prior to Egyptian chairs, which were typically stools. Chairs with arms and backrests implied elite status.
XJNk TIL that a “safer cigarette” (The XA Project) was developed in the 70s but tobacco companies pressured the inventor to bury it because it implied their cigarettes were unsafe.
eQmk TIL that sales of caps and gowns for kindergarten and elementary school graduations grow when the economy is bad due to a desire to celebrate good things during hard times