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TIL Joaquin Phoenix grew up in a cult involved with pedophilia and his parents traveled to Venezuela to recruit followers (not knowing about the pedophilia) - The Children of God

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E1KMV TIL The Jain temple of Kolanpak in India is home to a 5-foot (1.5 m) high sculpture of Mahavira that is carved entirely out of jade. It is the largest sculpture made from a single jade rock in the world.
4XKmJ TIL that Rory McCann [Sandor Clegane] lives a "solitary, transient" lifestyle, often living on a boat and in places without modern conveniences.
YpWyr TIL that the word "amethyst" means "not drunk" because of an Ancient Greek belief that drinking from an amethyst cup would prevent intoxication.
BrvGD TIL a study found tobacco and tomato plants emit ultrasonic "squeals" when stressed. Microphones 4" away picked up the sounds when plants had stems cut/were under-watered: an average of 15 - 25 sounds within 1 hr from cutting, and 11 - 35 sounds per hr from drought.
rRYYo TIL Countdown, the iconic UK gameshow which has run for 35 years to date, went no further than a pilot in the US, apparently because producers thought its premise was too "brainy" to appeal to the general American public.