› added 6 years ago

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TIL Ian Fleming was a keen bird watcher. When choosing a name for the hero of Casino Royal he used the name of the author of one of his bird books - James Bond. In 1964, Fleming gave Bond a first edition copy of You Only Live Twice signed, "To the real James Bond, from the thief of his identity".

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m1jQy TIL male Orchid Bees collect fragrances solely for the purposes of olfactory display to woo females; they are the only species known to do this.
wLDQJ TIL of Felis nigripes: the African Black-footed Cat, aka "the deadliest cat on earth", weighing in at under 5 lbs. It kills 10 - 14 rodents or birds per night to satisfy its accelerated metabolism. The Black-footed Cat has a kill rate of 60%, whereas a lion's kill rate is about 25%.
Me580 TIL that Italian hand gestures were born to communicate with someone that spoke a different dialect. Italy has in fact 34 major dialects that are very different from each other and in the past the "standard Italian" was not used.
g0L9 TIL Sweden recycles more than 99% of all household waste.
a8EZZ TIL: Brad Pitt was banned from China for 17 years after filming Seven Years in Tibet.