› added 9 years ago

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TIL the Red Hand is the symbol of Ulster because according to myth a boat race was held to determine the king - first to touch the shore wins the crown. One potential king saw he was losing, so cut off his hand (covering it red with blood) and threw it on the shore, thus winning the race.

9ybQ TIL that Marion Tinsley played checkers for 45 years and lost only 7 games. He once beat a computer program, and later analysis showed that Tinsley had played the only possible winning strategy from 64 moves out.
dD008 TIL Puck, a male budgie, holds the world record for the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words
9w59G TIL that there is a "witch window" also known as a "Vermont window," found almost exclusively in Vermont. These slanted windows are installed at a 45-degree angle in the gable-end wall of a house and are designed to prevent witches from flying into the home on their brooms.
OoQkX TIL In 1937, Angelo Hays was declared dead and buried 3 days later. 2 days after that, an insurance investigation exhumed him and found him in a coma. He made a complete recovery. He later invented a coffin complete with upholstery, a food locker, chemical toilet, library, and radio transmitter.
kJYMW TIL A working class neighbourhood in Zurich became a red-light district in the 1970s. As more people left their villages and moved to the city, it was easier and more profitable to rent out small apartments to prostitutes rather than use them as housing