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TIL “kappa” in kappamaki (cucumber sushi rolls) refers to child-sized, humanoid, reptilian monsters in Japanese folklore. As troublemakers their pranks range from looking up women’s kimonos to drowning people, but they are willing to befriend humans in exchange for gifts, especially cucumbers.

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ne9x9 TIL of Lydia Litvyak, The Jewish Soviet Fighter Ace. During WWII she claimed 14 kills, trained 45 pilots, and shot down an ace who wouldn't believe a woman beat him until she described the fight. She went missing on a flight Just before she was to receive the award "Hero of the Soviet Union"
5Vgl9 TIL that South Korea's CIA recruited a suicide squad to kill North Korea's dictator, Kim Il Sung. The squad mutinied, killed their commanders, hijacked a bus to Seoul, and were blown up by their own military. The survivors were then executed.
E1XvV TIL Kurt Cobain didn't particularly like his song Smells Like Teen Spirit saying "It's almost an embarrassment to play." And "I can barely, especially on a bad night, get through 'Teen Spirit.' I literally want to throw my guitar down and walk away."
awMZA TIL that Vladimir The Great, Prince of Kiev, considered converting from Paganism to Islam. He sent envoys to study Islam, but upon Learning that Islam forbade alcohol and pork, he got baptized himself and baptized Kiev Rus
Rx44 TIL the Carolina Dog is a breed that was discovered living wild in the Southeast in the 1970’s, and after extensive DNA testing they are believed to be the descendant of the first animals to accompany humans across the Bering land bridge to North America thousands of years ago.