› added 10 years ago

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TIL that it used to be compulsory for figure skaters to slowly trace precise, intricate shapes into the ice to be inspected by judges for scoring – hence the name ‘figure skating’.

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AVKw TIL that in North Korea, since every political candidate is chosen by the ruling party, there is only one name on a ballot. A voter may cross off the candidate’s name to vote against him, but must do so with a red pen next to the ballot box in sight of electoral officials.
e0EoL TIL that the planet Jupiter is more than three times heavier than the next most massive planet, Saturn.
OolyY TIL that while interbreeding occurred between neanderthals and early modern humans, the only genetic evidence of these events conserved within the human genome comes from Y chromosomal DNA meaning that all neanderthal DNA within modern humans comes from male neanderthal and female human pairings.
VNN4 TIL Zildjian, the cymbal manufacturer, is one of the oldest companies in the world, founded 1623, 393 years ago.
8eN5P TIL that in 1944 the CIA created a manual on sabotaging organizations. Among other things, it suggests to "make speeches... at great length", "refer all matters to committees", "make committees as large as possible", "insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products"