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TIL the process of seppuku, suicide by disemboweling to preserve honor, eventually became so ritualized that the abdominal cut was not even needed. The samurai merely reached for a fan instead of a knife, and doing so signaled the merciful beheading strike by the samurai’s assistant.

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d86aQ TIL since 1986, the lead singer of the band 'Toto' has been Joseph Williams, the son of legendary composer John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.)
e0gxg TIL that the Berber people of North Africa and the Sami people of northern Scandinavia share a close mitochondrial DNA link. Researchers found that the two groups diverged about 9000 years ago, just after the last ice age.
WWGN TIL panda cubs in captivity are unable to defecate on their own and frequently died of constipation. Caretakers realized they must mimic the mother’s licking so cubs can relieve themselves. (0:40)
0wRrj TIL the U.S. Congress passed a tax on long distance phone calls to pay for the Spanish-American War (1898). The war ended 4 months later, but the tax remained in place for over 100 years. On August 1, 2006, the IRS announced it would no longer collect the tax.
78AJP TIL about Edward Dando, notorious glutton and dine-and-dasher in 1800's Britain, who would eat dozens of oysters, not pay, go to jail, get released, and promptly do it again