› added 5 years ago

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TIL that "Häagen-Dazs" was completely made up by its Polish Jewish founders to sound Danish. The umlaut (¨) does not even exist in Danish and neither does the "zs" letter combination.

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a89EN TIL Mangoes are in the same plant family as poison ivy and mango sap and skin contains urushiol, the same allergen as poison ivy.
woKD8 TIL the ancient Romans made a poison artificial sweetener out of lead
0w4kM TIL Vans' original store didn't have any shoes for sale when it opened in 1966. Still, 12 people ordered shoes based on the samples on display, but when they returned to get their shoes, the owners couldn't make change. The owners said to take the shoes and return later to pay. All 12 customers did.
DRyD TIL the mobile game “Send Me to Heaven” involves throwing your phone as high in the air as you can. the creator said he made it with the hope of destroying as many iPhones as possible, but Apple banned it from the App Store.
N71wE TIL Maria Sharapova & her father arrived in Florida from Nyagan, Russia with only $700. Sharapova's father worked low-paying jobs to save up enough money to send her to IMG Academy sports school with a tuition of $35K per year. Today, Sharapova has earned $285 million according to Forbes.