› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the Skype was initially named as “Sky peer-to-peer”, which was then abbreviated to “Skyper”.

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Z8LRR TIL North Korea started to attempt to emulate certain aspects of China’s economic reform policies in 1980s, but both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il felt great hostility toward China after Deng Xiaoping launched China on the path of pursuing market-oriented “socialism with Chinese characteristics”
BrWOe TIL Abram Gannibal was a black African-born Russian nobleman in the 18th century. Sold into slavery, he was eventually freed by Peter the Great and adopted into the Emperor's household as his godson. His great-great grandson is the celebrated author and poet Alexander Pushkin.
nJ77 TIL that American Sign Language has Reddit-level puns. Make like you’re milking a cow. Do this in a sweeping motion across your face. Past-your-eyes milk.
M74dB TIL that despite being 8369 times bigger than Washington DC, Alaska has only 50k more people living in it.
v1MJL TIL counter to the portrayal in the Krakauer book and Penn film, Chris McCandless carried "into the wild" a wallet with multiple sources of identification and $300 in cash, as well as a map.