› added 11 years ago

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TIL Dutch women rank consistently low, compared to those in other Western countries, in terms of representation in top positions in business and government—and rank consistently near the top in terms of happiness and well-being.

j6XAQ TIL Silphium is an unidentified/extinct plant - the exact identity is unclear, highly debated - that was used as a contraceptive and an abortifacient by ancient Greeks and Romans. The plant was also used as seasoning, medicine, perfume, aphrodisiac.
LQEMm TiL that the Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" was so controversial that the Vatican allegedly excommunicated the record executive who released it in Italy. Birkin said this led to Gainsbourg calling the Pope "our greatest PR man".
kOwn1 TIL That the character Arnold from "Hey Arnold!" existed long before the shows 1996 premiere, going back to 1988 being a clay animation featured on several episodes of Sesame Street.
nepKd TIL that sausages have been commonly referred to as "dogs" since the 1800s due to a belief that sausage makers used dog meat in their sausages. Consumption of dog meat was common in Germany up to the early 1900s so these suspicion was "occasionally justified".
Y7x5x TIL Bruce Springsteen did not pay his taxes until he was put on the cover of Time Magazine in 1975. He then spent the next few years paying off his taxes, leaving him with only $20,000 on his 30th birthday despite multiple best-selling records and tours.