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TIL that historian George Smith, upon discovering an ancient Mesopotamian parallel to the Biblical Flood story, was so overcome with excitement that he began running around the room and removing his clothes, to the astonishment of those present.

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GYGD7 TIL a circle is used to represent a city on a map since early maps would draw small bird's-eye views of cities, and walled cities during that time were usually circular. Eventually the drawing was dropped and only the circular outline remained.
Wkn44 TIL that in the 1800s, US dairy producers would regularly mix their milk with water, chalk, embalming fluid and cow brains to enhance appearance and flavor. Hundreds of children died from the mixture of formaldehyde, dirt, and bacteria in their milk
X14E TIL that instead of venom, the Braconid wasp produces an immune-suppressing virus which paves the way for its parasitic larvae. This adaptation is the result of a 100-million year old virus which altered the wasp’s DNA leading to the formation of an organ whose sole purpose is to assemble the virus.
j6yDa TIL that Wajda's classic "Ziemia obiecana"/"Promised Land" was supposed to be distributed in USA, but according to Wajda distributors there bought the rights only to keep the film out of cinemas. Scorsese's 2013 Festival described it as "one of the most important critiques of predatory capitalism".
9YPOM Dopamine might make you pursue something, but that doesn’t mean it’s responsible for the pleasure itself.