› added 9 years ago

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TIL In May 1997, Mattel introduced Share a Smile Becky, a doll in a pink wheelchair. A 17-year-old high school student with cerebral palsy pointed out the doll wouldn’t fit in the elevator of Barbie’s Dream House. Mattel announced it would redesign the house in the future to accommodate the doll.

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XEOZ6 TIL the sun loses about 6 million tons of mass every second due to nuclear fusion and the solar wind. Despite losing that much material, it has only lost about 0.05% of it's original mass over the past 4.5 billion years.
oRmQR TIL that Orson Welles was originally supposed to voice "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader, but the role was ultimately given to James Earl Jones as George Lucas feared that Welles’ voice would be too recognizable.
xV8O5 TIL that capsaicin -- the compound that makes peppers hot -- only affects mammals, who would chew the seeds and destroy them. It doesn't affect birds, who swallow the seeds whole and help disperse them.
W7QeL TIL that while each individual paying for their meal is called “going Dutch” in English, in Egypt it’s called “English style.” In Pakistan, Thailand and parts of Latin America, it’s “American style.” In Turkey, it’s “German style.” In Italy, it’s “Roman style.” In Iraq, it’s “Mosul style.”
9YANB TIL that physicist Heinrich Hertz, upon proving the existence of radio waves, stated that "It's of no use whatsoever." When asked about the applications of his discovery: "Nothing, I guess."