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TIL in apartheid South Africa a "Pencil Test" determined if an ambiguous looking person was white, black or coloured. If the pencil passed through their hair with ease, they "passed", but if it didn't, it suggested Afro-textured hair and they'd be forced to live apart from the white community.

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xVpmw TIL In Denmark if you are unmarried on your 25th birthday friends play a prank by blasting one with cinnamon. On your 30th birthday the cinnamon gets upgraded to pepper. Danes sometimes add eggs to the mix because it “helps with adhesion.”
X0VXP TIL a 2011 study found that men with gonorrhea smelled "putrid" to a group of women and that while the off-putting smell may have been subtle, it definitely still had an effect. The researchers determined that unpleasant body odor of this type can reduce the probability of a dangerous partnership.
69RnQ TIL Carla Bruni Spent £660 a day on flowers when she was first lady of France
d80OZ TIL that a deep sea snail known as the Scaly-Foot Gastropod, which was only recently discovered in 2001, has a shell so well constructed that the U.S. military is researching its design, hoping to incorporate its defensive layers to improve military armor.
NOwe TIL NASA has a detailed set of written procedures for dealing with a suicidal or psychotic astronaut in space. The astronaut’s crewmates should bind his wrists and ankles with duct tape, tie him down with a bungee cord and inject him with tranquilizers if necessary.