› added 9 years ago

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TIL In some places the fire department will send you a bill after responding to an emergency call.

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dDK79 TIL about Sati, a medieval practice among some Indians by which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force commited suicide as a result of her husband's death. It was considered the highest expression of wifely devotion to a dead husband and was said to purge her of all her sins.
GAPv7 TIL about the Ainu, the original indigenous inhabitants of Japan
KOWg4 TIL It is estimated that 80 to 90 percent of all silent films are lost. According to research by Library of Congress only 14 percent of the 10,919 silent feature films released by major American studios between 1912 and 1929 is located and preserved.
kO9N5 TIL: Hedgehogs have noisy sex known as “Igelkarussell” in Germany, which led to many noise complaints from German residents keeping them up at night.
VPKm TIL a Japanese Oil Tanker captain fell into a cactus at a Santa Barbra Oil Field, provoking laughter from the local workers. 5 years later he returned in an Imperial Japanese Navy sub and made the first mainland shelling of the US at that oil field.