› added 13 years ago

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TIL there is an “anti-Pluto”, a dwarf planet sharing Pluto’s orbit but located on the opposite side. It even has a moon: Vanth.

X0YvP TIL about the Skoptsy, an 18th century Russian Christian sect. They were best known for practicing castration/mastectomies/FGM in accordance with their teachings against lust. The belief originated in a mistranslation of a biblical command as “castrate yourselves” rather than “be fruitful”.
16W98 TIL that Hollywood's first Chinese-American film star Anna May Wong had to support herself by becoming an Australian vaudeville chanteuse, a British theatrical luminary and a B-film pulp diva because of the shortage of roles for Asian actors and Hollywood tending to cast white actors in those roles
jNZgv TIL - Handshakes where originally used to make sure that the other person wasn't carrying a weapon. The hand clasp proved their hands were empty and the shake proved there was nothing in their sleeves.
MemkB TIL: The fastest human powered vehicle on water was 18.5 knots/21.3 mph/34km/h , set by Mark Drela in 1991 using a hydrofoil Decavitator. Some think it took undue advantage of a Dupont Prize rule allowing for 3mph tail wind.
QNGVE TIL that a teenager in Manchester, suffering from depression, created multiple fake online identities to persuade his best friend to attempt to murder him. Following his survival of the attack, he became the first person in UK history to face charges for inciting their own murder.