› added 10 years ago

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TIL there in the UK there is an official ‘Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office’ (A cat.) The cat’s term of office often outlasts a Prime Minister’s career. The longest serving cat served 4 Prime Ministers

6Ey7Z TIL Potoo birds are the most divergent of any other species of birds, being so ancient that fossils of them can be found from 40 million years ago. This suggest they are one of the oldest species of birds.
em4k TIL that you might see an illusion or even a creepy monster if you stare at your reflection in a mirror long enough. This phenomenon, known as psychomanteum, dates back to Ancient Greece, where a person would gaze into a still pool of water to communicate with spirits.
wLv7M TIL the United States made it illegal to discriminate based on an individual's DNA sequence in 2008, an act that was passed almost unanimously by the house, senate, and executive branch.
KYLZE TIL senior citizen Emerich Juettner eluded the US Secret Service for 10 years while he used just enough poorly created counterfeit $1 bills (one version misspelled Washington) to support himself & his dog. He only used fake $1 bills one at a time & never to the same place twice. He'd serve 4 months.
XEAj8 TIL the first computer of any description to sell one million units, the VIC-20, was put together by a team of 5 people at Commodore, who used to stay back late and steal equipment to do the development work because no one else in the company would cooperate with them.