› added 7 months ago

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TIL: In South Sudan there are "Ghost marriages" where if a groom dies, he can be substituted by his brother. Any children between the two is considered to belong to the deceased. This is due to cattle inheritance reasons.

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a817L TIL that instant coffee was invented by a New Zealander named David Strang in 1889 — decades before it was "discovered" elsewhere. Strang, from Invercargill, patented a method for producing soluble coffee powder using a dry hot-air process.
Wkjbd TIL many car commercials use a vehicle called the "Mill Blackbird" to film their commercials, and use CGI to make the vehicle look like the car they're advertising.
97l7 TIL: In 1550’s France, Catherine de Medici was so disgusted by women with “thick waists”, she enforced a ban on them from her court - this lead to the widespread use of the corset throughout western civilization for the next 350 years.
alOZ TIL that Jonathan Winters’ career started as a result of losing his wristwatch. He couldn’t afford a new one, but his wife persuaded him to perform in a talent contest where first prize was a wristwatch, feeling certain he could do so. His performance led he to him winning the watch.
Vx5Q TIL HSBC Bank was caught laundering billions of dollars in drug money. No one went to jail.