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TIL Sarah Forbes Bonetta was a Yoruba princess from West Africa who was orphaned and enslavved at age 5 by nearby Dahomey invaders who intended to kill her in a human sacrifice. She became Queen Victoria's goddaughter after a British Royal Navy captain convinced Dahomey's King to spare her life

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kOGO1 TIL Spitting Spiders catch their prey by spitting fluid containing both venom and spider silk that congeals on contact into a venomous and sticky mass. The spiders sway from side to side as they "spit", catching the prey in a crisscrossed "Z" pattern. The entire attack lasts 1/700th of a second.
6EQvW TIL that a rancher in Oregon named Bill Brown would often write checks on any paper available. This often included soup can labels and newspaper margins. As he was rich and known for this, the banks would cash the checks without question.
pgKQ TIL Kirk Douglas decided to get blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo credited for Spartacus when Kubrick suggested that his own name be used. Douglas found Kubrick’s eagerness to take credit for Trumbo’s work revolting.
R5dVl TIL about Kalonymus ben Kalonymus, a 14th century philosopher who wrote a now famous poem wishing and longing to be transformed into a woman... And cursing the world for making it impossible.
6E4am TIL that Mark Twain authored a revised version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic in response to the US Imperialism and the Philippine-American War in 1900. Lines include "Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword" and "As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich"