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TIL one of the earliest known account of Islam from a non-Islamic source is a manuscript called "The Teaching of Jacob" (634-640 AD) describing the conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslim army and mentioning a "prophet [who] had appeared, coming with the Saracens"

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gMn7A TIL The original word for 'bear' has been lost. People in middle ages were superstitious and thought saying the animal's name would summon it. They called it 'bear' which means 'the brown one' to avoid saying its actual name.
ZmmB TIL that the ampersand (&) was once the last letter of the alphabet. In latin the & was called “per se”. When reciting the alphabet people would say, “X, Y, Z and per se”. That last bit (“and per se”) eventually ran together to create the word, “ampersand”
WdeL TIL Leonard Nimoy fought to get pay equity for Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek in the 1960s
graNy TIL Prince turned down major label record deals at the age of 15 because they wouldn't let him produce himself.
r9D0 TIL You can’t file for Bankruptcy in Dubai. In turn, people abandon their exotic sports cars in the airport parking lot while fleeing. Ferrari, Porche, Land Rover, and Mercedes.