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TIL Due to its frequent name changes it’s entirely possible a Russian was born in St. Petersburg, went to school in Petrograd, got married in Leningrad and died in St. Petersburg without ever having moved.

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WeYA TIL - In 1997, nearly five million bits of ironically “ocean themed” Lego fell into the sea when a huge wave hit a container ship. This sprung up collector groups and the most treasured rare item is the black octopus.
X0o8R TIL Why paper cuts are so painful is b/c at a microscopic level, paper is actually quite rough. A knife makes a straight cut, but paper acts like a saw blade and does more damage to cells and nerve endings. Paper also leaves behind tiny fibres and chemical residues, irritating the wound even more.
4XbQX TIL: Alfred Hitchcock was so afraid of Psycho being spoiled ahead of time that he bought up as many copies of the original novel as possible. He also insisted that cinemas (for the first time) schedule screening times, sell tickets for those screenings, and not let anyone in after the film started.
wL4VP TIL in 1967 a Munich resident Helmut G. Winter built a catapult to launch Bavarian potato dumplings at noisy planes flying over his house forcing the West German Luftwaffe pilots to concede defeat and change their flight path.
nM0P TIL that NBA players do not tend to come from poverty. Contrary to stereotype, “Growing up in a wealthier neighborhood is a major, positive predictor of reaching the N.B.A.” Black NBA players are about 30% less likely to have an unwed or teenage mother.