› added 2 months ago

12

TIL: Long Hundred is 120 and was previously referred to as Hundred in Germanic languages

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rNXP1 TIL that the seedless bananas that we consume are called Cavendish bananas and they will go extinct in the next decade due to a fungus called Panama disease.
OGnQX TIL the Swiss Guard who guards the Pope must take a vow of celibacy, pass Swiss Army basic training and several other things. They had had a heroic last stand where they were massacred defending Rome in 1527 and there are only 135 of them at one time.
KO4BQ TIL 'Nothing But Gingerbread Left' is a story about a song, designed to damage the Nazi war effort. It was so catchy that anybody who heard it could think of nothing else. It impacted German morale. The story ends with Hitler unable to deliver a speech because of the song in his head.
v1a84 TIL Mister Rogers always mentioned out loud that he was feeding his fish because a young blind viewer once asked him to do so. She wanted to know the fish were OK.
e4M4 TIL 40,000 Vikings with 700 ships besieged Paris in 885 AD but could not take it and gave up, thanks to the defensive efforts of King Charles the Fat and his Warrior Bishop