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TIL: Chinese Empress Wu Zetian was one of the most brutal rulers in history, murdering countless rivals to consolidate her power. She would also require foreign dignitaries to perform cunnilingus on her, and even in her old age she kept a stable of sexual servants.

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DQAeD TIL that just before WW1 began, the British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey was heard to say ominously, “The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time.”
xV80B TIL of Bobby Driscoll, famous Disney child actor in the 1940s and 50s (including the voice of Peter Pan), who died penniless and alone at age 31 in an abandoned NYC building. When his body went unclaimed, he was buried in an unmarked grave.
EgZdV TIL of the incredible variety of Indigenous Cultures and Languages in Central America, with Mexico alone having over 60 officially recognised languages and cultures, with a range of genetic diversity between the different groups greater than that between Western Europeans and S.E. Asians.
KObjw TIL: Today in 1861, Sarah Seelye, at age 17, enlisted in the Civil War disguised as a man to escape an unwanted marriage. Ironically, part of her duties involved penetrating Confederate lines "disguised" as a woman. She deserted the army after contacting malaria and resumed life as a female in 1863.
Z8M0p TIL avocados must be picked to ripen, can stay on the plant for 7 months as "storage" , and take 13 months to grow a mature avocado.