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101

TIL the Spartan Pausanias was accused of treason for conspiring with the Persians, but seeked refuge in a temple so he couldn't be tried and executed while inside. His mother went to the temple to lay the first brick at the door, which was sealed until he died of starvation

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aWyJ TIL Italy’s Credem Bank takes parmesan cheese from local producers in exchange for cheap loans (charging 3-5% interest, depending on quality) & a fee ensuring the cheese matures properly (2yrs) in the bank vault (cheese is sold if the loan defaults). 430,000 parmesan wheels ($200M+) are stored there
mxdVv TIL of Girgori Perelman, the only person in history to have solved one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems. After solving the Poincaré conjecture Perelman was offered the Field's Medal and $1 million prize money, he declined them both.
xVa47 TIL of the Prince Rupert's Drop, created by dripping molten glass into cold water. Capable of shattering bullets on impact and withstanding the blow of a hammer, this "glass droplet" is characterized by its incredibly high residual stress.
8e9lK TIL that after DVD technology was developed, the first Hollywood feature-film chosen for release in that format was Twister (1996).
69B6l TIL that the word with most meanings in the English language is the word "set." It has 430 senses listed in the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1989. The word commands the longest entry in the dictionary at 60,000 words, or 326,000 characters.