› added 11 years ago

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TIL that watermelons in Japan are square because it makes them easier to store and pack

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OovKg TIL during the 19th century, a Muslim caliphate in West Africa called Sokoto enslaved 1-2.5 million people
Zpm8o TIL that, by default, Venmo makes your transaction info (payee, memo) to your "friends" on the platform.
XE956 TIL on Jan 23, 1960, about 9 years before the moon landing, Jacques Picard and John Welsch reached the deepest point in the ocean, known as The Challenger Deep. They descended into the Mariana Trench for 4 hours and 47 minutes in a submarine barely large enough to fit the two men.
40Qw TIL we say “pardon my French” after swearing because in the 19th century, English-speaking people would drop French phrases into conversation to display class, apologizing because many of their listeners wouldn’t know the language. Then people hid swear words under the pretense of them being French.
GA9A1 TIL that Buddhism is actually pretty sparse in India. Only 0.7% of Indians are Buddhist. By comparison, 1.2% of Americans are Buddhist.