› added 11 years ago

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TIL that to unintentionally mimic the accent of someone they are talking to, if they have a different accent, is a normal human trait. Psychologists believe it comes from an inbuilt urge to empathise and affiliate with the person you are talking to.

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VMpB TIL A man named Dominic Owen Mallary always said he wanted Andrew W.K. to play during his funeral. So when he died in 2008 Andrew W.K. went to the wake, and played classical piano the entire time after paying his respects.
gMROX TIL because NATO's Article 6 covers only member states' islands in the North Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer, plus French Algeria. An attack on the U.S. state of Hawaii would not trigger the treaty, but an attack on the other 49 would.
5Dr9 TIL All packaged products sold in India have a “maximum retail price” printed on the package by the manufacturer and that it is illegal for a store to charge more than that. India is the only country with this system.
4yPR TIL in Florida suffered catastrophic wildfires during 1995. Florida’s Division of forestry later discovered that the underlying problem was the cessation of controlled burning, which was stopped at the behest of homeowners.
N7Ya1 TIL the UK almost transitioned away from a first-past-the-post voting system to an alternative voting system in 2011