› added 3 months ago

15

TIL the Melbourne gold rush drew more people to Victoria than the California gold rush did to the US.

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P1LgZ TIL that certain BEST Products stores were built with unique & controversial architecture. Stores such as the "Peeling Building", "Forest Building", "Tilt Building", "Inside/Outside Building" and others helped generate commercial success for the company at the time. (Zoomable store photos on link)
l7Q15 TIL that Dummy, a deaf-mute fortune teller from Sible Hedingham, was accused of cursing Emma Smith in 1863. A mob beat him and threw him in a brook as an “ordeal by water.” He died of pneumonia in a workhouse. Two men were convicted of assault and sentenced to six months’ hard labour.
VB1LZ TIL Voltaire became extremely rich by taking advantage of a weakness in the French lottery system. In 1729, he collaborated with mathematician Charles Marie de La Condamine and others to make use of a profitable opportunity in the French national lottery.
REbl TIL The facial recognition algorithms in use by facebook outperforms those in use by the FBI
6E90Q TIL that most Americans aren't aware of blackcurrant flavour (one of the most popular soft drink and confection flavours in the world) due to a ban on the plant in the 1900s because of its role in spreading disease among white pines, a principle industry of the growing American republic.