› added 1 year ago

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TIL that the eunuch in charge of the Ottoman harem (‘the master of the girls’) was always a Black African. The reason and origins of this tradition are unknown, but the Chief Black Eunuch came to wield considerable political power

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EXW TIL Matthew Perry (“Chandler” from Friends) played Fallout 3 so often that he had to see a doctor for his hands.
9YYv6 TIL According to Biblical Scholars Rebecca was Three Years Old When She Got Engaged and Six When She Married Isaac
E1G8d TIL Daniel Kish is a blind man who taught himself to navigate by echolocation (like bats) by making swift clicking sounds that reflected from objects around him. Using these reflected sounds, he makes a mental image of his surroundings. He now trains others to 'see' the world like he does.
xR8w TIL that WWII inspired Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance, which states that if a society is tolerant without limit, their ability to be tolerant will eventually be seized or destroyed by the intolerant.
4k6Qa TIL, to study honesty, researchers called people at random and asked them to flip a coin, promising them €10 if they flipped tails. Fewer than half the subjects reported flipping tails, suggesting that almost no one lied.