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TIL when Théodore Géricault was painting “The Raft of the Medusa,” he met with survivors of the disaster, built a replica raft, and purchased multiple human limbs and a severed head which he took back to his studio in order to accurately portray the colour and texture of decaying flesh. [NSFW]

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6oQl TIL: That up until the early ‘90’s, Appliances sold in Britain were NOT required to have a plug on them. If you purchased a toaster, you were expected to buy a plug and wire it in.
WkN59 TIL Sweden has "gay sailor" defense system in the Baltic Sea. Underwater dancing gay sailor neon sign sends a Morse code saying "Come here if you're gay", targeted to Russian submarines detected regularly in the area.
kO7ZB TIL The phrase "How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?" is a 17th century parody of 13th century question, "Can several angels be in the same place?". The joke is a pun on needle’s point = needless point and debating topics of no practical value while there are more urgent concerns.
NXvbN TIL that the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival was first built in 1971 and modeled after the Great Pyramid of Giza. The current structure is the third incarnation, built in 2000.
XRKX TIL that the ‘Lorem Ipsum’ text is typically a scrambled section from Cicero’s work 'De finibus bonorum et malorum’ ('On the ends of good and evil’) from the 1st Century BC. 'Lorem ipsum’ is derived from the Latin 'dolorem ipsum’ - “pain itself”.