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TIL that a Roman merchant who sold fake jewels was sentenced to face a lion in the arena. When the gate finally opened, a chicken walked out. Emperor Gallienus proclaimed “He practiced deceit and then had it practiced on him.”

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ryk1 TIL Jim Carrey was offered to be the eighth doctor of Doctor Who, but he declined the role. He felt he would cause outrage amongst Doctor Who fans if the role wasn’t played by a fan
GYaW7 TIL Sprinkles Cupcakes has “Cupcake ATM”s located in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, and New York City that hold up to 600 cupcakes and dispense them 24 hours a day.
pjMG TIL that the French praised ‘Ratatouille’ for perfectly recreating the environment of a restaurant kitchen. One chef said, “When Colette teaches the young cook how you cut onions, how you cook vegetables in a pan, how you season everything — that’s it, that’s how we do it!”
e0vo4 TIL that the colour that you see when your eyes are opened in a dark room has a name. It's called 'eigengrau', which means intrinsic gray. It's the shade of dark gray people see when there's no light.
WWmY TIL the original Washington monument paid for by Congress was a statue of him shirtless as Zeus called “Enthroned Washington.” It became a laughing stock, inspired a group of citizens to raise money privately for the current monument, and now resides in the Smithsonian.