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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.

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5VQ4p TIL that gummy bears were originally called “dancing bears” and were inspired by the trained bears that performed at circuses and festivals in Europe in the 19th century
kJPA7 TIL that squirt guns predate the Civil War. Would be General Sherman once said “Why, you might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning building with a squirt-gun.”
6Ebdm TIL: Sir James Brooke was a British soldier and adventurer, who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. Acquiring the title, "Sultanate of Sarawak" - following intervention in an uprising against the Sultan of Brunei. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841, until his death in 1868.
VBVN0 TIL that in the 1920s, the 'Little Albert Experiment' at Johns Hopkins University conditioned a nine-month-old infant to develop phobias of stimuli like Santa Claus and furry animals.
VMybZ TIL about the U.S. Air Force's doomsday weapon, SLAM. The rocket was designed to fly fast and low over the Soviet Union, dropping hydrogen bombs over predetermined targets while its unshielded nuclear reactor contaminated everything in it's path.