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TIL that purple became associated with royalty due to a shade of it named Tyrian purple, which was created using the mucous glands of Murex snails. Even though it smelled horrible, this pigment was treasured in ancient times as a dye because its intensity deepened with time instead of fading away.

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7wPx TIL Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden, died of digestion problems in 1771 after eating a meal of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring, champagne, and 14 servings of his favorite dessert, semla in a bowl of hot milk. He is remembered by schoolchildren as “the king who ate himself to death.”
6ExW7 TIL Composer Dvořák was inspired by African-American spirituals while in America and became convinced they were the future of American music. He told a student, "these beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them."
8KeG TIL The JSON Software License is non-free because it has a clause mandating: “The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil”
ewXL TIL actor Werner Herzog was shot while filming an interview by an unknown individual with an air rifle. Herzog continued the interview and showed his wound on camera but acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, remarking, “It is not a significant bullet.”
awEJ0 TIL The Democratic Kampuchea period of 1975-1979 saw the closure and destruction of schools in Cambodia. During this period Phnom Penh University and all other educational institutions were closed and education was perceived as a dangerous asset