› added 10 years ago

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TIL that Crossing your fingers for luck is actually a Christian symbol for invoking protection by emulating the shape of a cross.

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pdBN TIL that Satoshi Tajiri (the creator of Pokémon), made Pokémon faint instead of die because he believed there was already enough violence in videogames and that kids should have a realistic, serious outlook on death.
9Y4P7 TIL of U.S. Secret Service agent Jerry Parr, who saved President Ronald Reagan's life during a 1981 assassination attempt. Parr was inspired to join the Secret Service by the 1939 movie "Code of the Secret Service"... which starred a young Ronald Reagan.
xVx0w TIL According to research, temporary, strong emotions, like sadness we experience from a weepy movie, can significantly decrease our ability to taste or perceive the amount of fat we're eating. People who are mildly depressed and who have elevated body weight may have lower sensitivity to fat.
JY5Y8 TIL that Yevgeny Primakov was expected to win Russia's presidential election in 2000. But after a series of apartment bombings, he dropped out and the election went to the little-known prime minister, who had held his post for less than six months.
wLnNY TIL that as a teen, the future serial killer Richard Ramirez got his first job working at Holiday Inn. While working there, he assualted a guest, but was caught and beaten by her husband. As they were traveling, the couple declined to press charges. Ramirez was then fired from his job.