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TIL There was a Chinese man who faked his way into becoming a musician for the King of Qi without knowing how to play the instrument at all. He imitated movements of other musicians and was paid a good salary in the ensemble until the King died. The new King preferred solo performances, so he fled

dDZgB TIL - The highly coveted Akhal-Teke horse was involved in the first war over horses in 104 BC and 102 BC, deemed the "War of the Heavenly Horses", fought between the Chinese Han Dynasty and the Persians. In victory, the prize of “T’ien ma” or Heavenly Horses allowed China to grow a strong cavalry.
5VD5n TIL that sage (Salvia officinalis) and rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) are closely related to the hallucinogenic drug salvia (Salvia divinorum).
Zpx8D TIL famous psychologist B.F.Skinner trained street pigeons to guide rockets by training them to recognize the pattern of a target, and to peck when they saw the target. As the pigeons pecked, cables harnessed to each one’s head would mechanically steer the missile until it finally reached its mark.
9YpXM TIL around 10% of internet traffic is encrypted by a code generated from the random motion of a wall of lava lamps in San Francisco.
X0GmE TIL the world record for the longest marathon theatre performance by an individual is 110 hours 46 minutes & was achieved by Adrian Hilton when he recited the complete works of William Shakespeare at a Shakespeare Festival in London in 1987.