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TIL the Marii-El Republic in Russia is the homeland of the Mari people, many of whom still follow their polytheistic indigenous religion. Possibly the only unbroken spiritual lineage to survive Christianisation in Europe. The Mari native religion comprehends tree worship and animal sacrifices

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4XJ96 TIL that flatfish (turbot, sole, halibut, etc) start off round but then morph into flat bodies, with their eye coming around to the other side of their head. (Video of this linked.)
rRgOo TIL in exchange for appearing in a mobile phone ad, legendary German footballer Franz Beckenbauer requested the novelty number 0176 / 666666. He was then flooded with erroneous phone sex calls by confused callers, since "six" and "sex" are pronounced almost the same in German.
ZDAv TIL that when Louis Rèard introduced the bikini in France in 1946, no models were willing to wear such revealing swimwear, so Rèard had to hire a stripper to model it.
NaQJ TIL for Queen’s “Bicycle Race” music video, the band rented several bikes which naked models raced at Wimbledon Stadium. When the renting company found out how the bikes were used, it forced the band to purchase all the seats.
nevXr TIL that Americans used to say "alumin-ium" like the British, but the chemist who named the element couldn't make up his mind on how to spell it. This led to Webster's Dictionary printing it as "alumin-um", eventually causing American chemists to adopt the 'incorrect' spelling.