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TIL that when an Asian giant hornet, a gigantic wasp that preys on bees, enters the nest of Japanese honeybees, the bees will gather around it and form a ball that encloses it, causing it to overheat and die.

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JYXP1 TIL that despite being one of the biggest movie stars and movie producers of all time - Tom Cruise has only actually directed once. It was a 30 minute episode from the tv series FALLEN ANGELS called the Frightening Frammis starring Peter Gallagher.
4QNw TIL that the saxophone was invented only in 1846 by Adolphe Sax. As a child, he survived a three-story fall, a gunpowder explosion, drinking a bowl of sulfuric water, a near-poisoning due to furniture varnish, and falling into a speeding river. His neighbors called him “little Sax, the ghost.”
0wmaM TIL in the efforts to capture a man-eating tigress, Indian wildlife officials used the perfume Obsession for Men by Calvin Klein as bait. The perfume contains a pheromone called civetone, which a US study found to be attracting to jaguars.
GAy4j TIL the peace sign is also known as "the V sign" in some of the British commonwealth nations, and has various meanings based on how its presented. When displayed with the palm inward toward the signer, it can be an offensive gesture similar to showing the middle finger, dating back to at least 1900.
P1aXO TIL that from 1801 to 1810 a pirate named Zheng Yi Sao was active in the South China Sea, eventually rising to lead a pirate confederacy. When she retired in 1810, she had 24 ships and 1433 pirates under her personal command. She later served as a privateer and retired to run a casino, dying at 68.