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TIL: Porn Industry Uses Airbnb, Rental Houses for Filming

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v1WP4 TIL Queen Elizabeth has won more than $9.4 million on horse betting and is also the 11th most successful owner of racing horses.
awVX9 TIL that amethyst was considered one of the five most precious gemstones, alongside diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. When large deposits were found in Brazil, the value of amethyst plummeted, and today it is considered only semiprecious.
5Y18P TIL that some luxury perfumes contain a rare and extremely valuable type of sperm whale poop called ambergris, which fixes their smell and allows it to last longer.
dD4Qd TIL that masers (laser-like directed energy weapons using microwave radiation instead of visible light) actually predate lasers by several years, and in fact some of the earliest lasers were even referred to as "optical masers"
obLE TIL that, with the German Sixth Army hopelessly surrounded in Stalingrad in 1943, Hitler promoted their commander Friedrich Paulus to field marshal. There was no precedent of a German field marshal surrendering; Hitler had effectively ordered Paulus to commit suicide.