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TIL The US Congress voted to pay George Washington $25,000 a year. He declined since he valued his image as a selfless public servant but ultimately accepted to avoid a precedent where the presidency would be perceived as limited only to wealthy individuals who could serve without pay.

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7JKP TIL that the idiom “the cat’s out of the bag” is derived from a practice by some merchants who sold piglets in bags. If the buyer was distracted, the merchant would quickly switch the piglet w/ a cat. The buyer wouldn’t realize until they got home and let the cat, and not a piglet, out of the bag.
e0m1b TIL when Natalie Wood was 7 years old, her mother would tear up butterflies in front of her to get her to cry for a scene in a World War 2 movie where she played an orphan. Her mother also moved the entire family to LA when Natalie’s child acting career gained traction.
1dNO TIL In 1989, a bottle, also from Thomas Jefferson’s collection, was valued at an astronomical $500,000 by its owner, William Sokolin. When Sokolin took the wine with him to a Margaux dinner at the Four Season Hotel, a waiter knocked the bottle over, breaking it. Insurers paid out $225,000.
GYQ4g TIL Quebec banned ads for toys and fast food aimed at children under 13, resulting in lowered childhood obesity rates.
j65Kv TIL when Olympe de Gouges argued that Louis XVI should not be executed a mob showed up at her house. When she went out to meet them someone grabbed her by her hair and started a mock auction for her head. She offered a "massive bid" which humored the crowd, and they let her go.