› added 10 years ago

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TIL that months after Genghis Khan sacked Zhongdu (Beijing) in 1215, the bones of the vanquished were thought to be white-capped mountains from a distance, and the approaching roads were nearly impassable from the grease of decomposing victims.

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d89p9 TIL that one of the first synthetic dyes, Perkin's Mauve, was discovered by William Perkin after his professor challenged the then-18-year-old to synthesise the anti-malarial quinine.
KVAR TIL The first flower bloomed around the time the last dinosaur died.
bAY0 TIL that composer Rossini was so talented/lazy that it was easier for him to write a new composition than to pick it up from the floor.
Ep9P TIL that due to high cost, most wasabi found in the US is actually horseradish with green dye.
5YylP TIL that Absinthe, aka The Green Fairy, a spirit once particularly popular within the French artistic community, was widely banned in the early 20th century due to its alleged hallucinatory effects believed due to ingredient thujone. The US ban was lifted in 2007 but the drink must be thujone free.