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TIL that in 1879 Alabama dissolved the debt-ridden city of Mobile and simultaneously incorporated the 'Port of Mobile', with most of Mobile's land and population but none of its debt. The Supreme Court ruled in 1886 that the new city was the successor to the old and still owned the debts.

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OoLxY TIL About Britain's "Anthrax Island," an island used for testing a single anthrax germ bomb by the UK in WW2. It was determined an anthrax bomb could render cities uninhabitable for generations. Quarantined for decades, the island was declared inhabitable again after a cleanup effort in 1986.
AN09n TIL In 1971, the Finnish Broadcasting Company built a TV-mast in Espoo, which unintentionally transmitted Finnish shows to viewers in Soviet Estonia. Despite efforts to jam the signals by the Soviets, Finnish broadcasts drew larger audiences in northern Estonia than Soviet Central Television did.
oBbMK TIL a contestant on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” used their “phone-a-friend” to call celebrity Rosie O’Donnell, a huge fan of the show. She guaranteed to cover the prize amount if her answer was wrong.
5YlPB TIL a year before the Manson murders, Sharon Tate gave an interview in which she described a nightmare she had where a man entered her home, tied up her and Jay Sebring, and killed them.
PYWvJ TIL that the Mormon Church has a secretive task force that monitors what church members say, publish, or post online. Any member that criticizes the church can be reported to local church leaders, so that the offending member can be corrected, disciplined, or excommunicated.