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TIL that Napoleon was of average height for his era and that his reputation as a short man was largely spread through the works of British satirical cartoonist James Gillray. His satire was so effective that Napoleon once said that Gillray "did more than all the armies of Europe to bring me down."

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ANQo4 TIL, the placenta that forms with a fetus isn't created by the mother. It grows from the fertilized egg and some fetuses actually develop outside the uterus attached to the intestines in the body cavity.
78gKb TIL That Cayenne pepper for weight loss: capsaicin in cayenne pepper increase metabolism and helps burn fat. It also promotes satiety, which reduces food intake.
OYXe TIL the U.S. is the only country that does not dip its flag to the host country at the Olympics opening ceremonies. When the U.S. flag-holder was asked to do so for King Edward VII at the 1908 London games, he supposedly responded, “This flag dips to no earthly king.”
8e708 TIL that the 'franca' in "lingua franca" isn't a reference to French but instead to 'the Franks', or western Europeans. The term comes from from a pidgin language used in the eastern Mediterranean, comprised of words from Italian, Occitan, Greek, Turkish, Arabic, and Slavic
5VmdD TIL radium was actively used in commercial products when it was first discovered. With its self-luminous property, radium paint was used for a number of items like clocks, cosmetics, or even food and medicine. The use of radium was discontinued after the death of Radium Girls.