› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the last Great Auk, an extinct bird, seen in the British Isles was killed after it was accused of being a witch.

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neVo7 TIL A survey of ~80,000 words estimated the origin of English words to be 28.3% French, 28.24% Latin, 25% Germanic, 5.32% Greek, 4.04% No etymology given, 3.28% Proper names, all other languages < 1%.
Wpw8 TIL A banana is a unit of radioactive exposure and that a truckload of bananas is able to set off a false alarm at U.S. ports sensing for smuggled radioactive material
wL0jM TIL it wasn't until 1967 that the Australian government gave Australian Aboriginal people citizenship
rRX8w TIL: Americans call a knob of butter "a stick" of butter.
9YKKm TIL of Jia Jiang, a startup founder who set out to overcome his fear of rejection in "100 Days of Rejection." He forced himself to ask strangers for favors with high risk of a "no" such as: Ask to borrow $100; ask for a free "burger refill" at a restaurant. His odd requests sometimes got a "yes."