i learned that vikings were extremely well kept for their time. So much so that an English cleric claim that they bathe regularly, comb their hair, and change clothes frequently to seduce highborn English women to their heathen ways. Numerous bone combs, tweezers, and earspoons have been found (x)
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i learned that during a heated discussion in the Roman Senate, Julius Caesar received a letter. His fierce opponent Cato, thinking it would incriminate Caesar, had the letter read. It was a love letter from Cato's sister (x)
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i learned that in August 2014 Women’s Voices for the Earth commissioned testing of four types of Always menstrual pads, manufactured by Procter & Gamble. The certified laboratory STAT Analysis Corporation analyzed the products for volatile organic compound.
“The results of the testing indicate that both scented and unscented Always pads emit toxic chemicals, including chemicals identified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Toxicology Program, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the State of California Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, and reproductive and developmental toxins. None of these chemicals are disclosed on the product by the manufacturer.” (x)
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i learned that the “20Q” (20 questions) handheld game, a toy released in 2003 and famous for its scary level of accuracy, actually used a basic implementation of an AI neural network. It used training data gathered from users of a web-browser based implementation of the game which launched in 1994 (x)
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i learned that until 2022, the Japanese public school system’s dress code required students dye their hair black. One student was forced to dye her naturally brown hair black, and was told to re-dye it every time her roots grew back. She was given academic penalties for not dyeing it often enough (x)
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i learned that Americans have a distinctive lean and it’s one of the first things the CIA trains operatives to fix (x)
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i learned that in an attempt to assassinate Hitler, a Nazi officer hid two time bombs in his jacket and led Hitler on a tour of a museum. Hitler raced through the museum and left before the bombs exploded, so the officer had to rush to the bathroom where he defused the bombs "at the last second." (x)
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i learned that a pub in London was illegally demolished just days before it was to be listed as an historic site. They developer was forced to rebuild it brick by brick to its original state (x)
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i learned that a man was wrongfully declared dead, so he attended his own funeral, tried to get arrested, tried to get elected and more. it took 19 years for him to be declared alive (x)
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i learned that during pregnancy, if the mother suffers organ damage, the baby in the womb sends stem cells to repair the damaged organ (x)
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i learned that when random people of varying physical attractiveness get placed into a room, the most physically attractive people tend to seek out each other and to congregate with only each other (x)
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i learned that birth rates in the U.S. have dropped more than 20% since 2007 (x)
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i learned that Wolfgang Mozart had a sister, Maria Anna, who was also an extremely talented child prodigy in music. Sadly, she was prevented from performing as an adult. Many of her compositions have been lost, including one Wolfgang wrote that he was in ‘awe’ of, contributing to her obscurity (x)
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i learned that the reason we see fewer fireflies nowadays is because there are genuinely fewer of them. 1 in 3 North American firefly species are at risk of extinction, with some species already being officially listed as 'Critically Endangered'! (x)
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i learned that dogs intentionally try to make humans laugh. They understand that laughter means play, and play is positive (x)
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i learned about Shiniuzhai, a convenience store hanging on a cliff in Hunan, that’s been nicknamed “most inconvenient convenience store” in China (x)
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i learned that rabbit starvation is when the body takes in too much protein with not enough fat and carbohydrate. When excessive amounts are consumed, it can put the body at risk for increased levels of ammonia in the blood. Protein poisoning can be fatal because of these increased levels (x)
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