› added 8 years ago

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TIL: Brazil imported 11 times more slaves than the United States; Rio alone was home to more slaves than the entire American South

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yQByJ TIL sperm whale oil was used in cars until the 1970's
dD7y9 TIL an autograph Beethoven manuscript was missing for 115 yrs until a librarian at a seminary in Philadelphia stumbled across it in 2005. It contains annotations by Beethoven which provide insight into his thought processes in the months before his death when he was deaf. It was sold for £1.1 milion
XEmbk TIL that studies have shown that organic food is worse for the environment than non-organic, and is unsustainable due to its higher land use requirements
VGdQ TIL that IKEA hired Thai translators to carefully scrutinize product names four years before opening a store in Thailand because some IKEA product names, when literally translated into Thai, suggest sexual acts.
j681p TIL Chinese Emperor Qin Er Shi was considered “Son of Heaven”, and that his own voice must never be heard, and his face must never be shown, meaning that ministers rarely had the opportunity to address the emperor. Qin Er Shi was forced to commit suicide at the age of 22