› added 5 years ago

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TIL that pyjamas (pajamas in the US) became fashionable because of World War I zeppelin air raids on Britain. Thrust into the evening due to an air raid, pyjamas were more practical and fashionable than night dresses, and coincided with the "new novelty" of women wearing trousers.

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vdJB TIL that the hacker Kevin Mitnick was kept in solitary confinement for 8 months because “law enforcement told the judge that he could somehow dial into the NORAD modem via a payphone from prison and communicate with the modem by whistling to launch nuclear missiles.”
xKj7 TIL the actor who voiced Shaggy in Scooby Doo was unaware of the idea that Shaggy is a stoner.
AN9Nl TIL Japan has a ratio of one vending machine for every 30 people.
86kP TIL The Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t actually Dutch, they are German. Upon arrival, they were saying “Deutsch” which is German for, well, German. Germany in the their native language is “Deutschland.” English speaking Americans just assumed they were saying “Dutch.”
9w7Om TIL that both indica and sativa are scientific terms used In classifying rice. With oryza sativa being the plants name and variance indica meaning it comes from India.