› added 10 years ago

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TIL that Soundgarden’s hit song “Black Hole Sun” was written by Chris Cornell in 15 minutes and the lyrics have no meaning whatsoever.

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R54xl TIL Pope Gregory I influenced the formation of Gregorian style chant and St. Augustine believed putting prayer into song “added such power, it is like praying twice“. Gregorian chant is a monophonic, meaning all singers follow a single melody in unison, producing a haunting effect in churchs
vPZK7 TIL: Maryland was a slave state that sided with the Union, but in 1864, they actually had a referendum to abolish slavery. It narrowly failed - until the absentee ballots from the soldiers at the front came in, at which point it overwhelmingly succeeded.
Bga6k TIL one of the earliest pregnancy tests was a fish, called a European Bitterling. If injected with a pregnant person's urine, its ovipositor (egg-laying organ) will protrude, indicating a positive result
EgpW TIL in the 90s Johnny Depp trashed a NYC hotel room and when confronted by the authorities claimed an armadillo was responsible for the damage. It apparently leaped from a cupboard before trashing the room and throwing itself out the window.
gMjwD TIL in 1857 Senator James Hammond, representative of South Carolina, released a manual of breastfeeding rules for enslaved women. The manual regulated time spent breastfeeding and rigidly set weaning schedules. The women were forced to nurse the children of their owners as well as other babies.