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TIL that Emperor Gao Yang begged his brother Gao Yan to spare his son. Gao Yan seized the throne and killed his nephew. Years later, a dying Gao Yan handed the throne to his brother Gao Zhan, begging him to spare his own son. Gao Zhan later had his nephew killed too, repeating the same betrayal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Xiaozhao_of_Northern_Qi
https://redd.it/1x9d5it
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TIL that West Virginia has the highest home ownership rate in the United States, with nearly 4 out of 5 residents owning their own home
https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=hou20&ct=S18
https://redd.it/1x92ev1
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TIL since 2006 every Curling stone used in the Winter Olympics is made from Granite harvested from a single Island off the coast of Scotland & costs $1,030 to manufacture. The local company who make them have been operating since 1851.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kays_of_Scotland
https://redd.it/1x96hln
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TIL Pope Francis declined his €30k/m salary
https://fortune.com/2025/05/09/american-pope-leo-xiv-six-figure-salary-us-presidents-university-chancellors/
https://redd.it/1x91qt7
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TIL that Frasier the Lion was given to Lion Country Safari in his old age and very ill. The lionesses there took care of him even to chewing his food since he was toothless and holding him up to walk. He fathered 35 cubs with them and the California State Assembly named him Father of the Year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frasier_(lion)
https://redd.it/1x94lcl
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TIL in Medieval England, a form of football (also called mob football) was played between neighbouring villages/towns. Team sizes were unlimited. The teams had to move an item (for example an animal's bladder) to a particular geographical point, such as their opponents' church.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football#Early_history:~:text=The%20early%20forms,between%20neighbouring%20parishes
https://redd.it/1x89nwu
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TIL failed Operation Kiebitz, during WW2 Nazis planned to rescue 4 skilled U-Boat commanders held in Canada POWs camp with a U-Boat, canadians became aware of the plan and laid trap to capture the U-Boat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Kiebitz
https://redd.it/1x8k03d
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TIL that in 2003, MIT scientists unveiled a biological weapons detector funded by the U.S. military that hijacked living white blood cells, genetically engineering them to glow when they encountered deadly pathogens like anthrax.
https://news.mit.edu/2003/sensors
https://redd.it/1x8lrx6
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TIL Ambergris Was an Ice Cream Flavor in the 17th Century
https://www.tastingtable.com/1989423/whale-poop-ambergris-ice-cream-flavor/
https://redd.it/1x8exae
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TIL The reason the word "nine" is said as "niner" over a radio is so that it won't be mistaken as a German "nein"/no.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet#Numerical_digits
https://redd.it/1x8mw33
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TIL that ancient Greek and Latin texts were often written without spaces between words. This style of writing, known as scriptio continua, meant that a sentence could look likeone long stringofletters, and readers had to figure out where each word began and ended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scriptio_continua
https://redd.it/1x7nv04
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TIL people with "red hair" gene may require higher doses of pain medicine.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/study-finds-link-between-red-hair-pain-threshold
https://redd.it/1x7ubjw
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TIL: Roosevelt is on the dime because he founded the March of Dimes foundation for polio research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_dime
https://redd.it/1x7d3o9
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TIL that Checkers has been a solved game for almost 20 years. Optimal play is unbeatable, and two opponents playing optimally always reach a stalemate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231216842_Checkers_Is_Solved
https://redd.it/1x7l0dm
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TIL René Descartes, famous for “I think, therefore I am,” believed three dreams he had in a stove-heated room in 1619 were divine guidance directing him to pursue truth through science and philosophy and leading to the development of analytical geometry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes
https://redd.it/1x6nbmv
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TIL about Akashinga, an all-female anti-poaching unit in Zimbabwe. These women patrol the bush, confront armed poachers and protect elephants and rhinos targeted by hunters. Many were recruited from vulnerable backgrounds and trained in patrols, arrests, first aid and firearms to protect animals!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-28/akashinga-the-female-fighters-protecting-wildlife-in-zimbabwe/10418542
https://redd.it/1x93rlc
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TIL the early days of cinema had small, simple theaters that charged a nickel for admission. Adding the Greek word odeion (a roofed-over theater), these theaters were then called "Nickelodeons"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelodeon_(movie_theater)#Etymology
https://redd.it/1x9ayrv
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TIL that comic books from the 1960s and 1970s could have ads for squirrel monkeys and that kids could order them. In one instance, a boy ordered a squirrel monkey after seeing an ad in a Spider-Man comic. After it arrived, the monkey gnawed on the boy's arm, which resulted in him getting 28 stitches
https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/comics/when-comic-books-sold-live-monkeys
https://redd.it/1x923b5
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TIL that the actress Jodie Foster is fluent in French to the degree that she dubs herself in French-language versions of most of her English-language films. She attended the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, a French-language school.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodie_Foster#Early_life_and_education
https://redd.it/1x90ymq
@r_til
TIL there have been several unauthorized Harry Potter books published in Chinese include Harry Potter and the Porcelain Doll, Harry Potter and the Golden Turtle, Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase and Harry Potter and the Big Funnel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Harry_Potter_translations
https://redd.it/1x9dz1v
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TIL that the pink plastic flamingo is the official bird of Madison Wisconsin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_flamingo
https://redd.it/1x8hq3v
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TIL that in 2022, a 7-year-old boy, his brother, and their cousin discovered a rare juvenile T. rex fossil in North Dakota. Dubbed "Teen Rex," it is one of only four juvenile T. rex fossils ever found.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rare-juvenile-t-rex-fossil-found-north-dakota-badlands-by-children-denver-museum/
https://redd.it/1x8778u
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TIL Boxing promoter Don King beat an employee to death in 1966 because he owed him 600 dollars. Decades later he tried to rename the street where he murdered him after himself “Don King Way”
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2016/09/portion_of_cedar_where_don_kin.html
https://redd.it/1x8o0b1
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TIL in crowd wisdom, the 'surprisingly popular' answer can overcome ignorance of the masses
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/02/06/crowd-wisdom-surprisingly-popular-answer-can-trump-ignorance-masses
https://redd.it/1x8f1qb
@r_til
TIL a finance worker at a multinational firm was tricked into transferring $25 million to scammers after joining a video conference call where every single other participant—including the company's CFO and several of his recognized coworkers—was an AI-generated deepfake.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/04/asia/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong-intl-hnk
https://redd.it/1x89yr2
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TIL After the "Fight Of The Century" Muhammad Ali refused to admit defeat and sought to define the outcome in the publics mind as a "White Man's Decision". Ali later on defeated Frazier in their third and final bout at the Thrilla in Manilia in 1975
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_of_the_Century
https://redd.it/1x7j2ne
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TIL that in WW2, Poland declared war on Japan. Japan rejected there declaration of war. Quote: “We do not accept Poland’s challenge. The Poles, fighting for their freedom, only declared war on us under pressure from the United Kingdom.”A curious case: Poland only declared war on one country in WWII;
https://www.outono.net/elentir/2021/03/21/a-curious-case-poland-only-declared-war-on-one-country-in-wwii-peace-did-not-come-until-1957/
https://redd.it/1x7i200
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TIL member of the Donner Party, Lewis Keseberg, was accused of killing and consuming multiple, including children, by the rescue party. He was found with the corpse of Tamsen Donner, and had hidden her remaining money. He later sued for defamation, insisting he only ate those who died of exposure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Keseberg
https://redd.it/1x7r98u
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TIL that the trope of immigration officials at Ellis Island changing and anglicizing immigrants’ names is a myth, which only became popularized around 1970
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island_Special
https://redd.it/1x6oxy7
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TIL that the prominent early 19th century American politician John Randolph of Roanoke never went through puberty. He is suspected of either having had Klinefelter syndrome, or tuberculosis which settled in the genital tract.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Randolph_of_Roanoke
https://redd.it/1x6onyu
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