› added 5 years ago

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TIL in Chinese/East Asian culture, the Tiger - not the Lion- is considered the King of all Animals. This is so because it is the biggest land-predator in East Asia, and- more importantly- the markings on its forehead resemble the Chinese character for King/Monarch: "王."

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QaDL TIL Russian criminal and prisoners would get large chest and back tattoos of Stalin and Lenin, not out of respect, but to avoid having internal organs damaged during beatings by guards who would not denigrate the images.
N7y9b TIL that three suburban towns on eastern Long Island are seeing skyrocketing cancer rates. Meanwhile, breast cancer alone on all of Long Island is 13 to 18 times higher than the state average, and has been for decades.
R7WNa TIL the last battle between British and US forces on American soil took place in Alabama in 1815. The British abandoned their assault on Mobile when HMS Brazen arrived with news of a peace treaty.
1660P TIL in the 1960s David Stein sold three watercolors purportedly by artist Marc Chagall to an art dealer. They were fake as Stein had painted them that day. He may have gotten away with it, but Marc Chagall just happened to meet the dealer on that very same day. Stein became an artist after prison.
9Y4EX TIL muskrats are considered legally fish by the Catholic diocese of southeast Michigan, allowing them to be eaten on Fridays during Lent. When asked about the ruling the local bishop wrote that "anyone who could eat muskrat was doing penance worthy of the greatest of the saints."