› added 3 years ago

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TIL buffets are called "vikings" in Japan. This is because a Japanese restaurant manager went to Sweden and liked smörgåsbords so much he copied the idea at his restaurant. This Swedish word was too hard to pronounce in Japanese, so the word "vikings" was used instead after a employee suggested it.

Read more japan-talk.com

via reddit.com

m1L5E TIL in the 1906 book 'John Dough and the Cherub' the titular Cherub was a child of indeterminate gender; the editors created a contest to guess the gender and second place argued girl as "if it had been a boy he would have eaten the ginger-bread man at once whether it agreed with him or not"
ERxP TIL that Dung Beetles are the only non-human animals to navigate and Orient themselves using the Milky Way.
OEl7 TIL that Medieval European stained-glass windows contain tiny gold particles, which when energised by the sun’s rays, create a magnetic field that destroys air-borne pollutants.
9YyWr TIL Blaise Diagne,born in Senegal,was the 1st black African elected to the French Chamber of Deputies in 1914,also hold a position in the French gvt. His son would become the 1st black footballer in France,and won it in 1936. His grandson would be mayor of a French town until he died in 2017
X0r5Q TIL albino musicians Edgar and Johnny Winter's birthname was actually Winter, not a stage name! Due to their albinism they were both legally blind & sun-sensitive, stuck inside all day, which encouraged them to spend their time learning instruments & begin their musical journey!