› added 8 years ago

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TIL that the most complex chinese character has 62 strokes and is called biáng, a type of noodle dish.

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WarL TIL that the reason students have summer off is because, in the 1800s, it was simply too hot to go to school, so students just didn’t show up anyway. Lawmakers eventually saw the sense in this and fought for a school-free summer for students.
n7XW TIL Isaac Newton was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1689 and served for exactly one year. During that time, he said one and only one sentence during the lengthy proceedings: he asked a nearby usher to close an open, drafty window.
Mb00 TIL William Wrigley originally started a ‘home essentials’ business, selling baking powder and soap. With these, he gave a free pack of his gum. He later abandoned the baking powder business when he learned that people were buying it just to get the gum.
nePOB TIL that since 2013 starfishes in the Pacific Ocean have been going through a deadly plague/epidemic. The disease is called Sea Star Wasting Disease which seems to be associated with a virus. It causes the starfishes to tear their limbs apart and eventually leads to their deaths.
oB99A TIL in Antarctica in 1959, a scientist became unhinged after losing a game of chess, and murdered his opponent with an axe. Chess was subsequently banned at Russian Antarctic stations.