› added 12 years ago

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TIL that Americans are comparatively no more religious than the rest of the world. However, when polled on the matter, they are twice as likely to claim to be religious.

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9B5Q TIL one reason that you so often see people holding fans in ancient Japanese paintings/art is because the fan was a common self defense weapon. It had a metal rod inside, and there is an entire martial art dedicated to fighting with the fan.
lo0mB TIL of the "very sad dinosaur" that suffered from a brain tumor
N1P8 TIL that cobalt is named after the Kobold, a type of fairy from German folklore
OoKxL TIL that during the carving of Mount Rushmore there were zero fatalities as a result of accidents. That is 14 years (1927-1941) of carving and dynamite blasts without a death.
Wk0lY TIL the "Jews are money hungry" stereotype can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when Jews were allowed to lend money with interest, but Christians were not as it was against their religion.