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TIL the gauge of a shotgun is multiplicative inverse of the weight (in pounds) of the largest lead sphere that would fit in the barrel.

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a8wOL TIL the first ever episode of Doctor Who was largely overshadowed by the assassination of John F. Kennedy a day prior.
6EdKW TIL that in 1972 the equal rights amendment was passed in the U.S. Senate but was never ratified by the 38 required states and has been waiting for the required number for 46 years.
OooXL TIL potatoes and corn came to Spain from the Americas. Prior to this, chestnuts and acorns were the base food used to make flour and many traditional dishes.
OoBdX TIL when J. R. R. Tolkien sold the movie rights for Lord of the Rings, he forbade Disney from ever becoming involved ''as long as it was possible to veto anything from or influenced by the Disney studios for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing''
grvLW TIL Oliver Smoot, whose body was used to measure Boston's Harvard Bridge as part of an MIT fraternity prank in 1958, went on to become the chairman of the American National Standards Institute and the president of the International Organization for Standardization.