› added 12 years ago

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TIL carrots used to be available in purple and white until the 17th century when Dutch farmers succeeded in growing the first orange carrots in honour of the ruling House of Orange-Nassau.

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BBjx TIL: that when the Mongol army was withering from the 14th century bubonic plague epidemic, they decided to catapult their infected corpses over city walls before invading. This is considered one of the first acts of biological warfare
d8xZK TIL that Sperm Whale vomit, or "Ambergris", is very valuable and is used to make perfumes, due to its pleasant smell.
GY8bE TIL following the Falklands War the United Kingdom was diplomatically represented in Argentina by Switzerland until 1990. The Swiss took over two consulates and the British Embassy in Buenos Aires which became the British Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy.
oBdp8 TIL The Walter Reade Organization mistakenly omitting the logo © when renaming George A. Romero's originally titled "Night of the Flesh Eaters" made Night of the Living Dead public domain. Thus, we'll never know how much the film made worldwide from all its unapproved showings, copies and sales.
7dQx TIL Australia’s 17th Prime Minister Harold Holt went for a swim at beach and was never seen again