› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the musical Cats is so popular in Japan, that it has been running since 1983. It caused a “musical boom” and brought other Broadway musicals to Japan. There is a purpose-built CATS theatre in Tokyo. The production has played over 10,000 performances to over 10 million audience members.

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5YWlR TIL had it not been for the Norman Conquest of 1066, the English we speak today would have been much different and more restrictive. The merging of Old English and Norman French led to Modern English being sort of hybrid of the two, giving another shade of meaning to words such as "swine" vs "pork".
neGyW TIL that the island of Great Britain was formed by the collision of the Laurentia Craton and the Microcontinent Avalonia, known as the Caledonian Orogeny, the border of which is coincidentally similar to the borders of present day England and Scotland.
mxlWo TIL facing rising unprovoked shark attacks, Australia is deploying shark detecting drones above its busiest beaches. Software detection rates are 90%, while human accuracy when viewing aerial images is only about 25%.
X0Ldj TIL in 2010 Mike Patton (Faith no More, MR Bungle) released an album containing a series of cover versions of 1950s and 1960s Italian pop music, entitled "Mondo Cane", featuring a forty-member orchestra and fifteen-piece backing band
mDWY TIL: The Xoloitzcuintli dog was once believed to ward off evil spirits. Many were sacrificed and buried with their owner upon death, because they were believed to guide their soul to the underworld.