› added 5 months ago

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TIL that not only was Jingle Bells not originally a Christmas song, it was originally written for and sung in a minstrel show by performers in blackface

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JYNn8 TIL that women in the Dani tribe in Indonesia amputate a part of their fingers to grieve a loved one's death. It’s believed finger cutting keeps the deceased person’s restless spirit away, as well as symbolising the pain of bereavement.
0wx55 TIL three films featuring kids' love and fascination with baseball were released within months of each other: "The Sandlot," "Rookie of the Year," and "Little Big League." The last one was released a month before professional baseball games were suspended because the MLB players went on strike.
E10V TIL: That “Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others.” And “Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, Rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.”
xORo TIL When a power outage struck southern California in the 1990s, Los Angeles residents reportedly called 911 to express alarm about strange clouds hovering overhead; they were seeing the Milky Way for the first time
OGGEg TIL the FAA’s Aviation Safety Program (ASP) was so successful in educating pilots on aviation safety that it led to its own demise, as the easiest-to-fix accident causes were all addressed