› added 11 years ago

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TIL Charlie Chaplin was born 4 days before Hitler and his character, Tramp, has the same mustache as him. This and being named a Jew and placed on a hitlist by Nazis inspired his film, The Great Dictator, where in the last speech he is actually talking to the audience as himself, not a character

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5V1eR TIL archaeologists working in a 2,500 y.o. Chinese cemetery unearthed charred incense burners and burnt stones that tested high for cannabinol, which is released when THC is burned. "Unlike many wild varieties, the cannabis smoked at the site [...] was pretty potent stuff."
awDnN TIL Nicolas Cage once ate mushrooms with his cat. Nic Cage told David Letterman in an interview that his cat once ate some mushrooms that he accidentally left out. Cage decided the only sociable thing to do was to partake as well and join his cat on its "trip."
4Xaea TIL In 1996, the Vancouver Aquarium became the first in the world to pledge to never again capture a wild whale or dolphin. Its first killer whale was captured in 1964, making it the first in the world to study orcas under human care
x647B TIL during WWI, Allied soldiers used glowworms as trench lamps, storing the bioluminescent insects in bottles for light. Their service was so helpful, they were honored in 2004 when Princess Anne unveiled a London memorial for animals and insects that aided the war effort.
m1pgx TIL that thanks to Bromelain, a digestive enzyme found in some fruits, when you eat pineapple, the pineapple is eating you back! Same for kiwi and papaya.