› added 3 months ago

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TIL there is 14-thousand-year-old rock art in the middle of the Sahara desert. The paintings show crocodiles, giraffes, and hippos, from a time when the Sahara was lush grassland and forest, and was able to support these animals.

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ldWB TIL that nearly all Japaneses school staff are trained to use a weapon called the Sasumata. It is a two pronged people catcher based off a medieval weapon of war that is used to immobilize intruders.
5YvVD TIL that when Rob Lowe learned of his tv shows cancellation halfway through making the first season, he made sure the last half of the season was “as absurd as possible”, ending the show by revealing himself to be a serial killer and then committing a murder suicide.
4XejR TIL of Tom & Moll King, owners of 18th century London's infamous 'Tom King's Coffee House'. Est. 1720 by the aristocrat & his former prostitute wife, the all-night venue - famed also for its attractive Black barmaid - drew all classes for sex encounters. It features in artist William Hogarth's work.
n8lW TIL that Buzz Aldrin’s first words on the moon were “Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation.”
MegvV TIL that George Orwell's use of 2+2=5 as a catchphrase of the dystopian government in his book 1984 is based on Joseph Stalin's use of that equation in propaganda. Soviet posters declared "2 + 2 plus the enthusiasm of the workers = 5" long before Orwell wrote his novel.