› added 5 years ago

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TIL of Alexander of Abonoteichus, a roman era cult leader who made people believe a sock-puppet was a snake-god. He was so influential even the emperor joined his cult, and the few sceptics who opposed him were christians, epicureans and writer Lucian of Samosata, who tried to expose him as a fraud

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p86rN TIL that a long full grown beard without a mustache, like the type worn by Amish men, is called a "Shenandoah", which is not to be confused with the "chinstrap" which also is a beard without a mustache but does not extend below the jawline.
GY4VG TIL the head of a tiny dinosaur that lived nearly 100 million years ago was found trapped in amber. The head of Oculudentavis khaungraae ("eye-tooth bird") is 14mm long with large eye sockets like modern lizards and upper and lower jaws full of sharp teeth, the most found on any ancestral bird.
5VLXR TIL that in 2013 a referendum was held in the Falkland Islands asking citizens to decide whether they supported the continuation of their status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom; 3 people out of 1516 voted no
yQAj8 TIL about Sea Spiders. There are over 1,000 species, and they have a leg span ranging from 1 mm to nearly 3 ft. As they age, their exoskeleton becomes riddled with small holes – enabling them to slowly grow in size.
W6po TIL that when the Nazi Party held its first book burnings, one of the works destroyed was an 1821 play by Heinrich Heine containing the famous line: “Where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people.”