› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the melody of Happy Birthday Song is not actually copyrighted, in fact it is only the words that are copyrighted.

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rDAo TIL that people born on the island of Bali, Indonesia are traditionally given one of four names based on their birth order within the family. The first child is called ‘oldest’, the second 'middle’, etc. The cycle repeats itself after the fourth, where the fifth child is called 'oldest again’.
9YOG7 TIL that Patrick Gass, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, had to be forcibly-removed from a U.S. Civil War recruiting station after he tried to enlist at age 91.
4Xmjw TIL the nuclear bomb tests in the 1940s can help identify forged paintings by using radiocarbon dating. Authenticators can count the number of carbon 14 isotopes and decide whether the number is realistic for the time. Carbon 14 isotopes are known to have dramatically increased after these tests.
MekB8 TIL in biblical Israel, on Yom Kippur two goats were chosen and lots were drawn for them. One was sacrificed and the other allowed to escape into the wilderness, symbolically carrying with it the sins of the community. Hence the word "scapegoat".
a8ENN TIL There is a bar named Jack Ruby's Saloon in downtown Dallas mere blocks from The Sixth Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza (Site of JFK assassination). The history buff owner loves the fact that Ruby, who shot JFK's assassin, owned a bar and sells T-shirts that says "I took a shot at Jack Ruby's."