› added 2 months ago

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TIL Abba is the name of a well known Swedish fish-canning company that formed in 1838. When the Swedish pop group ABBA negotiated with the canners for the rights to the name, the factory gave their permission, saying "O.K., as long as you don't make us feel ashamed for what you're doing".

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Bg8NW TIL A surgeon in the UK used an argon beam to brand his initials onto transplanted livers of two of his patients
neYMr TIL about the Crypt of Civilization, one of the first modern time capsules, sealed in 1940 in Georgia. Modeled after the Egyptian tombs of the pharaohs, it will be opened in 8113 AD.
neBD7 TIL that elephants can dance and move their heads to beats
b97WQ TIL candle wax has ”memory”. If you don’t burn it all the way out to the edges the first time you light it, it will only burn to the same point it was melted at the first time. Resulting in a “tunnel”, faster burn time, and wasting the wax that doesn’t melt.
j6YwE TIL British and Portugal weren't only colonial powers with significant land in China. Germany also held territory in China controlling Qingdao in Kiautschou Bay from 1898 to 1914. During this timeframe, large amounts of German architecture were constructed in the city, many which still exist today.