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TIL Babylonians believed that eclipses were the gods’ way of expressing anger, if the moon appeared in front of the sun, they would literally murder their king. In order to escape this, the king would crown a puppet king and queen days before the eclipse, and kill them instead.

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via reddit.com

m1LWp TIL about "Grandpa Indian" (Vovô Índio), a Brazilian character created in the 1930s with the intention of providing a "patriotic" alternative to Santa Claus in Christmastide imagery. Promoted by the far-right Integralist movement, the attempt was widely mocked, and few trace of the character remain.
4kaWw TIL Hotels in the US always have ice, because the burgeoning Holiday Inn wanted to set themselves apart
R78Gl TIL UPS drivers wore green uniforms when they started in West Germany because the locals associated the "brown shirts" with the Nazis.
8evoV TIL that a community of dwarfs in Ecuador are practically immune to cancer and diabetes because of their unique genes.
XZvR TIL The “Body Mass Index” (BMI) was never intended to be applied to individuals but continues to be used as such because it is, “quicker, easier, and cheaper.”