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TIL foxes are more closely related to walruses than to cats

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R7kMl TIL that the word "essential" in "essential oil" doesn't mean "important," but rather "the essence of". So oil of clove smells like clove, capturing the "essence" of the plant, and therefore can be called an essential oil.
VMwom TIL “&” used to be the 27th character in the alphabet. Originally pronounced ‘and’ the ABC’s ended X,Y,Z and and. To clarify, people would say X,Y,Z, and, by itself, and. Or, incorporating the Latin phrase, X,Y,Z and ‘per se’ and. “And per se and” got contracted to ampersand. *
VM85G TIL In 1967 Michael J. Adams (Maj USAF) flew an X-15 to an altitude above 50 miles and qualified as an astronaut according to the U.S. definition of the boundary of space. Moments later the craft broke apart, killing Adams and destroying the X-15-3. He was the first American space mission fatality.
WkePL TIL that since 1814, the diamond-studded Iffland-Ring is hold by the "most significant and most worthy actor of the German-speaking theatre"
ANRXx TIL that an English chemist named James Price claimed to be able to turn mercury into silver or gold. When asked by members of the Royal Society to perform the experiment in front of credible witnesses, he reluctantly agreed, only to drink poison in front of them instead.