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TIL the silent P in the word "ptarmigan" has absolutely no reason to be there. The bird's name comes from the Gaelic "tàrmachan" ("croaker"), but in 1684 the Scottish naturalist Robert Sibbald decided to add a p in front to make the word look more Greek.

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epNP5 TIL after the Khwarazmian Empire was destroyed by the Mongols, the Khwarazmian army survived and marched around the Middle East for a few decades as a mercenary force.
9YVwr TIL that Action Park, a New Jersey theme park which opened in 1978, was infamous for being poorly constructed, with at least six guests killed by the rides. It featured a water slide which was closed after only a month, and which supposedly decapitated a crash test dummy during safety testing.
Meo7m TIL The male Platypus is venomous during mating season and it's venom is immediate, sustained, and devastating. The venom is immune to all forms of painkillers including morphine and lasts for months.
6BlJ TIL In loud environments, people are twice as likely to comply with requests asked in their right ear rather than their left.
BEKd TIL that fourteen years after Wild Bill Hickok’s death, in 1900, an aging Calamity Jane arranged to be photographed next to his overgrown burial site. Elderly, thin and poor, her clothes were ragged and held together with safety pins.