› added 4 years ago

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TIL about "Earthquake Baroque", an architectural style developed after a series of earthquakes on the Philippines - stone buildings like churches were made low and wide, with thick, buttressed walls like fortress ramparts

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wLbeY TIL Human sperm doesn’t wiggle as previously thought, it spins like a “playful otter”
d815j TIL: In 1918, Iowa Governor William F. Harding signed a proclamation banning all languages other than English for public conversation, education, speeches, or church services. Some churches had to close and people were fined for speaking German on the phone.
DQLPe TIL America has never had a Vietnam veteran as President—Democrats & Republicans nominated a Vietnam War veteran for President three elections in a row in 2000, 2004, and 2008—each time coming short of winning the White House.
xVkow TIL According to Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus, the Greek King of Ithaca, had a dog named Argos. When Odysseus left for the war on Troy, Argos waited for 20 years for him to return, and died as soon as he saw his master had come back safe and sound.
KPK4 TIL that Kim Jong Il ordered the kidnap of South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and his wife to make movies for North Korea. They gained Kim’s trust and allowed them to travel to Vienna, where they seeked asylum to US Embassy. Feared about their credibility, they secretly taped Kim’s voice prior.