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TIL Oscar Wilde was a wildly popular Irish writer in the late 1800's. A rival hired a detective to catch him in "acts of sodomy and gross indecency". He served 2 years hard labor in prison for his "crimes". He suffered terribly and almost starved to death. He died at age 46.

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Xl0X TIL Pikachu’s name comes from the onomatopoetic word “pikapika” which is the Japanese sound for electricity sparking, and “chuchu” which is the sound small mice make.
d8oN7 TIL that “discotheque” means "library of phonograph records" in French; the term gradually came to refer to clubs where records were the norm, rather than a band. In the early 1960s, the word came into use in the United States, frequently shortened to “disco.”
5Y91D TIL To give himself more artistic freedom, Bill Watterson - creator of Calvin and Hobbes, successfully negotiated a deal to have his Sunday strip layed-out as an unbreakable half of a newspaper. This angered many editors, but the series was so popular that only 15 newspapers cancelled the strip.
vYjD TIL that the number 17 (XVII) was deemed ‘unlucky’ by the Romans and Italians because the Roman numeral was an anagram for VIXI, meaning 'I lived,’ a reference to one’s own death. Thus, Italian buildings do not have a 17th floor and so forth.
Ajxa TIL Dick Fosbury won the 1968 Olympic High Jump medal by using the hitherto unknown “flop” technique that he himself invented. It remains the most efficient high jumping technique to this day.