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TIL that despite being ubiquitous throughout the Roman world for centuries and appearing in sculptures and friezes across the empire, we don't know what the Romans called the armor they wore in battle. 16th century scholars gave it the name lorica segmentata.

9wxRM TIL that while the English language is classified as a West Germanic language, its vocabulary also shows major influences from French (about 28% of words) and Latin (also about 28%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse.
neYXB TIL that the common method for a spacecraft to shift between two orbits is called a Hohmann Transfer, and that the guy who calculated it (in 1925) was inspired by a science fiction book written in 1897, which gave a generally correct explanation of the concept of orbit trajectory
j4vj TIL that on April 1, 1974, the local residents of Sitka, Alaska woke to their nearby dormant volcano, Mount Edgecumbe, billowing out black smoke. When a Coast Guard pilot came closer to investigate, he found 70 tires burning and the words “APRIL FOOL” spray painted into the snow.
VMPN0 TIL the owner of Walter White's house hates Breaking Bad because fans of the show would throw pizza on his rooftop, the creator Vince Gilligan made a public plea for fans to stop throwing pizzas on the house's roof.
nexvB TIL the Kit Kat chocolate bar can trace its origins to a worker at the chocolate bar factory who put a note in the suggestion box saying the company should invent a chocolate bar that “a man could take to work in his pack up”.