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TIL During WWI, the MI6 discovered semen could work as invisible ink. Mansfield Cumming, the first chief of the SIS was "making enquiries for invisible inks," and apparently semen did not react to the main methods of detection. It also had the advantage of being readily available.

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d8yvZ TIL that the live penguins that starred in Batman Returns (1992) had their own refrigerated dressing rooms and a swimming pool. The set was kept cold for them. Danny DeVito was the only one who was comfortable, because of the extensive face prosthetics, heavy padding, and heavy coat he had to wear.
nWNY9 TIL African elephants can exchange information by emitting low-frequency sounds that travel dozens of miles under the ground on the savanna. The sound waves come from the animals' huge vocal cords, and distant elephants “hear” the signals with their highly sensitive feet.
e5jk TIL that “Weird” Al Yankovic is a Christian alcohol-shunning vegan who religious beliefs is why he doesn’t use profanity but doesn’t vocalise his beliefs because they are entirely personal
9wdgG TIL Saudi Culture Ministry bought a Leonardo Da Vinci painting for a world-record $450m at an auction in New York. Later, scientific evidence suggested that Da Vinci only made a contribution to the painting, and experts consider that the painting was more likely to have been the work of his studio
EgK87 TIL the United States and "British North America" received fewer than 10% of the African slaves trafficked to the New World. The largest destinations were Portuguese America >38% (e.g. Brazil) and the British West Indies >18% (e.g. Jamaica).