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TIL: Killer Whale is a mistranslation of Whale-Killer - Orcas are part of the dolphin family and hunt whales

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GApxE TIL that in ancient Rome, there was a vending machine that dispensed holy water. Pilgrims would insert a coin and receive a measured amount of sacred water. It was one of the earliest recorded examples of a coin-operated machine!
160OX TIL there are happy (and sad) numbers
WkyLA TIL that Silvio Berlusconi (ex-Italian prime minister) openly insulted Finnish cuisine. In response; a group of Finnish chefs created a smoked reindeer based pizza, named it after him and won 1st place in the ameria's plate international pizza contest. The Italian-American team only came second.
loVPA TIL the Ministry of Truth building in Nineteen Eighty-Four is inspired by a real structure - Senate House, the headquarters of the UK's Ministry of Information during WWII.
10w4 TIL Claudette Colvin was the actually first African-American woman to refuse to move to the back of the bus nine months before Rosa Parks did, but the NAACP did not want to use her to represent the movement as she was 15 years old and pregnant.