› added 12 years ago

110

TIL that France gives a medal to citizens who have “successfully raised several children with dignity.”

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via reddit.com

GYEeg TIL: The Jurupa Oak tree in California is estimated at 13000+ years old, reproduces through cloning, and only expands after being burned by wildfires to sprout new branches.
l7nZK TIL The Romans started their calendars from March. So October meaning 8 should be the 8th month, September the 9th etc.
kJ9B1 TIL the town of Embarrass, Minnesota, gets its name from the French word Embarras, meaning a difficult obstacle to overcome. It is also one of the coldest places in America, with a growing season a month shorter than that of Fairbanks, Alaska.
rkAe TIL “health insurance” was actually cooked up as a ploy by hospitals to fill empty beds. The real impetus to making insurance commonplace is when they made premiums tax-free if paid by employers. Before insurance the average person spent $5 per year on medical care.
kJnKm TIL of Omar Ibn Said, an enslaved black Muslim scholar from the 18th century. Although his slave owners believed he had converted to Christianity, his autobiography revealed that he was still Muslim. His love for Jesus was interpreted as Christian, when Jesus is also a Muslim Prophet.