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TIL the first known mention of the word abracadabra was in a second century AD book (written by a physician) which prescribed that malaria sufferers wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of a triangle and the power of the amulet would make lethal diseases go away.

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1aPO7 TIL about the Chicago Spire, a planned 2000 foot high skyscraper which would have been the highest building in the Americas, and 2nd tallest in the world. It would have looked like a "tall twisting tree" or "blade of grass." It was cancelled in 2008 due to the economic crisis.
8e1EL TIL that Chicago is home to a significant Appalachian population. Between 1940 and 1970, approximately 3.2 million Appalachian and Southern migrants, both black and white, settled in Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest. Uptown gained a reputation for being a “Hillbilly Heaven”.
j6ZYa TIL Dogs can see color, but only in shades of blue and yellow. Because dogs can only see two colors, they have dichromatic vision. They can also see shades of gray. Colors such as red, orange, and green are out of a dog's color spectrum, so these colors are not visible to dogs.
X0eWj TIL that Catherine Schell - the actress who played Maya in "Space: 1999" (1975-77) - is a great-niece of King Louis XIV of France, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, 7th Prime-Minister of France, and Franz I & II & III, 50th Holy Roman Emperor and 8th Grand-Duke of Tuscany and former Duke of Lorraine.
Ow5L TIL that five days after Hitler committed suicide, German and American troops fought side by side to defend Itter Castle against Himmler’s SS.