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TIL that belief in dragons evolved independently in both Europe and China, and possibly the Americas and Australia as well

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womnY TIL about The Great Tantra Challenge, a live event in which Sanal Edamaruku, an Indian skeptic, challenged a tantrik to kill him with only magic. After multiple failed attempts, the tantrik claimed Sanal was under the protection of a powerful god, to which Sanal replied that he was an atheist.
R7gV4 TIL early coffee shops in England were frequented by students, philosophers, and other intellectuals who engaged in reasoned debate on the latest issues of the day. The shops charge a penny for admission, and were dubbed ‘Penny Universities’ for the alternative form of education they offered
N0yM TIL Nestlé has a sordid history including price fixing, deliberately misleading advertisements, melamine and e coli poisoning, child slave labor use, and causing the death of countless third world children.
RmL1 TIL in 1940 the incredible Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a behemoth vehicle designed to assist Adm. Perry’s Antarctic exploration but was a colossal failure as it could not operate in the snow. It was abandoned and its whereabouts is unknown.
l7KJ7 TIL that Qatar has sequenced the genes of around 10% of its citizens, as part of a genetic screening program as 26.7% of Qatari marriages are with first cousins.