› added 8 years ago

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TIL there’s a Japanese word for testing your new sword by killing a random passer-by. It’s tsuji-giri (辻斬り), literally ‘crossroads killing’

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VLOk TIL the ridges around the side of the Quarter are a leftover from when the coin was made of silver. The ridges were meant to prevent the practice of shaving off small amounts of silver from the coins.
XEvmj TIL of Evolutionary Anachronism which are attributes that emerge from selection in the past due to coevolution with other biological species that have since become extinct. For example, avocado seeds are too large to be dispersed by any wild animal presently alive in the Americas
m1GOx TIL on hearing that the doctor asked for 10 men to hold him down so he can amputate his leg, Italian mercenary Giovanni Delle Bande Nere cheerfully declared "not even 20 could hold me" and grabbed a candle to see his leg better. After the operation, still gleeful, he declared "I am healed!"
GAKB4 TIL that the ‘Moneyball’ movie cost more to make than the 2002 Oakland A’s payroll (the team the movie is based after).
wylP TIL that 2 weeks before Woodstock, a similar festival was held in Atlantic City. It ran well, on schedule with proper facilities, and many people say it was better than Woodstock, but it wasn’t filmed so it is mostly forgotten.