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- TIL after being scolded by a woman who felt that his shoes were too expensive for kids, Shaq forwent a $40 million deal with Reebok & signed one with Walmart. He then brought in designers from Reebok so that his Walmart shoes would look costlier than the $20 price. Over 400 million pairs were sold.
- Santos says he will recuse himself from sitting on committees
- TIL Warren Buffett bought Berkshire Hathaway purely out of spite. In the 60s it was a failing textiles company which he wanted to sell his stake in. When its president lowballed him, he bought the whole company just to fire him. In 2010, he said it was the biggest investment mistake he ever made.
- TIL Hirsoshima, Japan is one of the few places outside of the US that celebrates Martin Luther King Jr day, due to his outspoken views on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.
- TIL Mount Everest is named after Sir George Everest despite him having zero connection to the mountain (he never even saw it) and against his own wishes. He objected to the naming on the grounds that “Everest” could not be easily written in Hindi nor pronounced by the local people.
- TIL: To “protect the truth,” a woman recorded hundreds of thousands of hours of TV news between 1977 and 2012. Her archives grew to about 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes stacked in her home and apartments she rented to store them. Upon her death, the Internet Archive agreed to digitize the volumes.
- TIL boxer Jack Johnson was once pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket and gave the officer a $100 bill. When the officer said he couldn’t provide change, Johnson told him to keep it as he was going to make his return trip at the same speed.
- TIL that when Californians wanted to name a new city after San Francisco businessman William Ralston, he declined and said he was not worthy of the honor. So instead they named the city in honor of his modesty: Modesto, California.
- TIL that in 1977 Bob Marley was diagnosed with melanoma under a toenail. He rejected his doctors’ advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs. The cancer subsequently spread and he died of metastatic melanoma 4 years later, at the age of 36.
- TIL in 1915 a farmer saw his sister make her own mascara with coal and petrolium jelly and thought he could make a better product. His invention was easier to apply and won’t burn a woman’s eye. He named his new company Maybelline after his sister Maybel and the base material Vasaline.
- TIL Prohibition Agent Izzy Einstein who bragged he could find liquor in any city in under 30 minutes. In Chicago it took him 21 minutes and Atlanta 17. However, New Orleans set the record at 35 seconds after he asked his driver where to get a drink and the driver handed him one
- TIL Mr. Snuffleupagus from ‘Sesame Street’ was originally a friend of Big Bird’s that everyone else thought was imaginary, and it was decided that he should be seen by other people to encourage children to talk about any abuse they might have suffered.
- TIL : TIL a female reporter attempted to recreate the famous novel “Around The World In 80 Days”. Not only did she complete it with eight days to spare, she made a detour to interview Jules Verne, the original author.
- Never forget that Martin Luther King Jr was killed when he was supporting a worker strike & encouraging the city of Memphis to go on a general strike! Labor rights are civil rights!
- TIL Salisbury steak was invented as a result of a doctor, James Salisbury, wanting to cure diseases like diarrhea, which killed Civil War soldiers more than combat. He believed vegetables produced toxins and suggested the steak be eaten 3 times a day, with water to cleanse one’s digestive system.
