› added 8 years ago

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TIL An alchemist, testing if urine can be turned to gold, discovered that urine instead yields phosphorus. Which was worth more at that time.

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QJ6m9 TIL that BBC has one of the biggest and best recipe collections available for free, and since they are a public service, they have no ads, no walls of text, just recipes
9YBgD TIL that in 1420 the winter was so cold wolves came into Paris to search for food, eating humans.
oRmaY TIL Everybody is allowed to do the Māori Haka dance, but only if done with respect.
lobr TIL the swedish former physical education teacher Richard Juhlin has the best nose for wine (champagne specifically) and in a now infamous blind tasting in 2003, arranged by Spectacle du Monde, he correctly identified 43 of 50 wines. The one who came in second correctly identified four.
neAXo TIL a young Frank Sinatra tried to get out of his contract with bandleader Tommy Dorsey. When Dorsey refused Sinatra’s offer of $60,000, mobster Willie Moretti allegedly threatened Dorsey. Afterwards, Dorsey let Sinatra out of his contract for $1.