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TIL that what most people think of as Haiku are actually another art form called Senryu, which follows the same 5-7-5 syllable structure as Haiku. While Senryu can be about any topic and are often humorous, Haiku should be more serious, be about nature and contain a word that refers to the Seasons.

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xV07 TIL when Galileo presented his version of the telescope to the City of Venice in 1609, he did so at least partially because he needed the money to help support a throng of illegitimate children.
VVnG TIL in 16th century China, when the imperial army and navy failed to defeat Japanese pirates, Shaolin monks were dispatched to get rid of them. In one battle, the monks were especially ruthless, killing every single opposing pirate over a ten day period, including one’s wife that tried to flee
l7onV TIL That episiotomies, the intentional incision of the perineum during childbirth, was once considered routine. In the late 1970's, it was done in more than 60% of vaginal births. The procedure was discouraged by leading OBGYN groups in the 2000's, but still sometimes occurs.
VlDk TIL that 10 Syrian Pound coins are so similar to Norway’s 20 krone coins in weight that vending machines cannot tell the difference. Posten Norge had to close many of their coin-to-cash machines because of this. 20 krone is worth about 45 times more than 10 SP.
VOkp TIL it was a Somali president, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, who was the first leader in Africa to peacefully hand over power to a democratically elected successor. He lived another 40 years after the handover to 2 days short of 100 years-old