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TIL Major-General Charles George Gordon was a British Army officer who made his military reputation in China. He was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army" which was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. The Emperor of China promoted Gordon to the rank of tidu.

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Y4er TIL that newborn ducks will take on the characteristics of the first animal they see. If the first animal they see is a human, then they will think they’re human and grow up thinking they’re human. This is called “imprinting” and it’s the natural instinct to follow the first thing they see.
MPeB TIL that the Yakuza, Japan’s largest organized crime syndicate, provided food, water, blankets, diapers, etc. during both the 1995 and 2011 Japanese Earthquakes and at a much faster response time than even the Japanese Government.
6n5J TIL that college textbook publishers began adding more colorful visuals to books in part to justify the enormous increase in costs, more than 1000% since the late 1970s.
BrwKy TIL the "ultimate parasitic ant" spends most of its adult life clinging to the back of its host, laying two eggs every minute.
awKa9 TIL The fencing masters, Bonetti, Agrippa, Capoferro, and Thibault, from the iconic Princess Bride dual on the cliffs of insanity were real people.