› added 12 years ago

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TIL Peter the Great, enamored of Western ways, encouraged cleanshavenness among Russians by imposing a tax on beards. Noblemen paid 100 rubles a year for a medallion that served as a beard license.

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0wDdR TIL that the street scenes in Elf were actually filmed in the middle of New York City with REAL New Yorkers due to their small movie budget. Also, the funny line "You smell like beef and cheese; you don't smell like Santa" was completely off the cuff and unscripted.
PYkMZ TIL You're not supposed to wash your mouth with water after brushing and instead spit out any excess toothpaste. Washing results in washing away the concentrated fluoride in the remaining toothpaste.
yVvBM TIL about Tim Friede, the Venom Man. Tim flatlined from two back to back cobra bites in 2001. He was revived and decided to become immune to snake venom in hope of creating a universal antivenom. He has taken 200+ fang bites and 500+ needle injections from lethal cobras, mambas, kraits and taipans.
Wkl5B TIL one of the best selling books of all time in Germany is "Winnetou", about a fictional American Indian and his sidekick Old Shatterhand. Since being released in 1875, it has sold around 200M copies and has had multiple movies and TV shows made.
AD6QB TIL that the 'Thin Blue Line' is supposed to be Law Enforcement standing between us and chaos. I always thought it was symbolizing the line between 'Us and Them' but the supposed meaning seems ironic given the last few days events.