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TIL One of the most famous cartographic errors in history showed the Island of California separated from mainland N. America by the Gulf of California

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jNYwN TIL Mulan is very likely not ethnically Han. The story is set in the Northern Wei dynasty whose language was Tuoba, an extinct language that had mongolic and Turkic elements. She is believed to be of XianBei ethnicity, a nomadic people that once resided in the Eastern Eurasian Steppes.
5VYPn TIL That both actors who played Col. Blake on MAS*H died one day apart of heart attacks
wlo7 TIL most bamboo species only flower once every several decades, with the entire population flowering at once. When one variety flowers, the entire variety flowers at the same time around the world, regardless of location, climate, or any other factors for reasons scientists have yet to discern.
0wDpL TIL: The original Doctor Who theme music was composed without musicians, instruments, synthesizers or even a two-track recorder. It was put together on one-inch pieces of 1/4inch tape and painstakingly stuck together by British digital music pioneer Delia Derbyshire and her assistant.
W48d TIL In 2014, The State of Alabama paid Universal Records $75,000 for 5-year rights for the phrase “Sweet Home Alabama”