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TIL the term 'Gypsy' for Romani people likely arose from perception that they were 'Egyptians', evidence suggests most Romani originally came from India

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axvL TIL that Betty Boop was actually based off of an African American singer whose singing trademark was “Boop oop da doop”. The resemblance between the two of them is uncanny.
Wg14 TIL not a single black artist had a Billboard No.1 single in 2013 - the first time this has happened in 55 years.
rdZw TIL Doodling can aid a person’s memory by expending enough energy to keep one from daydreaming. It acts as a mediator between the spectrum of thinking too much or thinking too little and helps focus on the current situation. On average, doodlers can recall 29% more information than non-doodlers.
4XKl6 TIL that Benjamin Lay, an early Quaker abolitionist, walked into the 1738 annual meeting of Quakers and during an abolition speech plunged a sword into a bible he had hollowed out and filled with a bladder full of red fruit juice. To horrified onlookers, the Bible appeared to be bleeding.
l77p5 TIL that Complex Numbers aren't "complex"... you can see them as a simple way to do rotations around the Cartesian plane