› added 13 years ago

114

TIL Sweden offers free language lessons for immigrants

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DQoYV TIL about the ancient Mesopotamian practice of using a substitute king to protect the real king from evil omens. The real king would go into hiding, and rites were performed to transfer the danger onto the substitute. At the end of the ritual, the substitute is put to death.
69p4W TIL Mount Everest grows in height by 4mm (0.16in) every year
7rApb TIL Alexander Graham Bell offered to sell his telephone patent to Western Union for $100,000 in 1876. The committee appointed to investigate the offer concluded the telephone was "hardly more than a toy" and "inherently of no use to us".
ALyd TIL George Lucas paid a fine and resigned from the DGA after they had told him to stick to conventional opening credits for “Star Wars” (1977)
78wnZ TIL that before the PB&J sandwich was invented, peanut butter was originally originally paired with savory foods like Worcestershire sauce & cheese