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377

TIL that American English likely has more in common with Shakespearean English than modern British English does.

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rR4pw TIL that Suzanne Vega is considered the “Mother of the MP3” because her song “Tom’s Diner” was used to test the algorithm for the mp3: if it could be compressed without losing the warmth in her voice than it would work on anything
jVbR TIL that when Vin Diesel made a cameo in “Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift”, in lieu of payment he demanded the rights to the Riddick character.
x6joo TIL that whisky company Diageo puts aside barrels of maturing whiskey for its pension plan
Zem4 TIL there is a 5 minute survey that predicts suicide risk in the person polled with a ~66% accuracy for 6 future weeks. It is called the “Hopelessness Scale”… and is exclusively available for around $60 from Pearson, a text book company that hyper-aggressively defends the survey’s copyright.
b99kE TIL plague doctors in the 17th century wore a bird-like mask filled with dried flowers and spices to keep away bad smells, which were thought to be the principal cause of disease. This was later disproved by Germ Theory.