› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the colour orange was named after the fruit and not the other way around. Until that time the colour was referred to as yellow-red and may be why red hair got its misnomer.

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Ooa6X TIL After the filming of Rush Hour 2, the prop money was so accurate that movie extras tried to pass it off as real on the Strip. The Secret Service then had to confiscate $100 Million worth of prop money and accused the prop money manufacturer - Independent Studio Services - of counterfeiting.
69ByX TIL that Julia Agrippina, who supposedly poisoned her husband, Roman Emperor Claudius, was herself supposedly killed because of an order made by Emperor Nero
bomE TIL that C. S. Lewis (author of The Chronicles of Narnia series) was an adamant atheist, until attending Oxford, when his closest friend, J. R. R. Tolkien (author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) convinced him to convert to Christianity.
78NLX TIL the common mistakes tree planting programs make such as planting non-native trees, timber trees that won't mature, and trees where they never grew in the first place. Programs should focus on native trees that can mature and act as efficient carbon sinks.
AyG4 TIL the practice of selling one’s kidney for profit in Iran is legal and regulated by the government. It is estimated that 1,400 Iranians sell one of their kidneys annually. Iran is the only country in the world that allows this and has neither a waiting list nor a shortage of available organs.