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44

TIL the reason why older Japanese paints have women with black lips is not to provide contrast, but because they actually represent black teeth which was a common custom of the time.

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kJVjg TIL that Knights fought in World War I
vPwYK TIL Lucas wanted Muppets maestro Jim Henson to voice the role of Yoda in Star Wars
WkJnB TIL because electronic computers were not fast in 1959, the X15 experimental jet used a Fluidic Digital Computer that used water instead of electricity. It featured hypersensitive Fluidic Integrated Circuits and Logic Gates that could make course corrections faster than its contemporary computers.
7rN6L TIL from 986 CE, Muslim Turks started raiding northwest India from Afghanistan, plundering western India. Forced conversions to Islam were made, and Buddhist images were smashed due to the Islamic dislike of idolatry. Hence, the Islamic term for an 'idol' became 'budd'.
ZrXo TIL that when U.S. soldiers encountered the Tokay gecko in the jungles of Vietnam during the Vietnam war, they found its mating call sounded similar to the phrase “fuck you” - giving it the informal name “fuck-you lizard”.