› added 12 years ago

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TIL The current way Americans salute the American Flag (our right hand over our heart) was instituted in 1942, because the old way looked too much like the Nazi salute.

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WkAjA TIL in 1872 a Japanese samurai and politician Shinpei Eto established a wanted photograph distribution system. Its first subject was Shipei Eto himself. The circulation of wanted photographs aided his swift arrest. He was executed at the age of 41
e0jZg TIL that Plato was a wrestler. The historian Diogenes Laërtius tells us that Platon, meaning "broad shouldered," was the philosopher’s wrestling nickname.
x64y1 TIL that insects undergoing metamorphosis can retain their memories even though their bodies, including their brains, essentially melt down into gloop and reform entirely. It is not understood how this is possible.
KKr6 TIL heterosexual prostitution is illegal in Japan, but homosexual prostitution is not. This is because homosexual relations are not “true” sexual conduct, but only “imitation.”
RV5j TIL that 156 years ago today, March 30 1858, the first wooden pencil with a rubber eraser was patented.