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153

TIL In Japan, a festival called Kanamara Matsuri, or 'Festival of the Steel Phallus' celebrates the defeat of a vagina demon by an iron penis.

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J5rj TIL a man was arrested in Ireland after punching a hole into a $10m Monet painting. His justification: he wanted to ‘get back at the state’
GAgeN TIL There is a car called the Youxia in China, it's based on KIT from Knight Rider and Youxia is a Chinese name for a historical group of "Knight Errants"
GY5Rj TIL There is an annual Olympiad for high school Chemistry. It began in 1968 in Prague, and had 3 countries participate. It now includes 75 countries, each sending one student team of 4. There is a practical exam, followed by a written exam. Both can be up to 5 hours in length.
oBLDr TIL: Victor Goldschmidt, the founder of modern geochemistry carried a Cyanide pill as a last resort if captured by Nazi's. When a colleague asked him to create one for him, he stated, "Cyanide is for chemists; you, being a professor of mechanical engineering, will have to use the rope."
X0RoE TIL the cast of Das Boot (1981) were deprived of sunlight during the entire year of filming to realistically portray the unhealthy, pale skin of real sailors. I also learned 30000 of 40000 sailors never made it home.