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TIL that Brazil's obsession with plastic surgery stems (for a large part) from the efforts of plastic surgeon Ivan Pitanguy to made it free. His "right to beauty"' campaign was influenced by his treatment of the many burned victims of the Niterói circus fire (17/12/1961).

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4M5o TIL Honduras, a country of 7 million people, has 8-10 murders per day, 70% of which the government claims to be due to the war on drugs.
yVjGw TIL that archaeologists routinely find edible honey in ancient Egyptian tombs - the stuff never spoils, due to extremely low water-content, very low pH, and hydrogen peroxide (made by an enzyme in the bees' stomachs). How Cool!
lo6L5 TIL Jack, a baboon, was employed to change rail signals. After initial skepticism, the railway decided to officially employ the baboon once his job competency was verified. He was paid twenty cents a day, and 1/2 a bottle of beer each week. In his nine years of employment, Jack never made a mistake.
ne7DG TIL the term "meme" was created by Richard Dawkins in 1976 as a shortened version of the Greek word mimeme, which means imitated thing.
DQpaD TIL In 2007, investors had plans to build the tallest skyscraper in Latin America in Mexico City but had trouble with zoning. It was argued that Mexico City needs about 200,000 sq m of office space a year, or seven typical 25-floor office towers