› added 11 years ago

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TIL that an ancient and mysterious ‘whistle language’ still survives on one of the Canary Islands, used to talk across their steep ravines.

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YvDW TIL in a part of southern India there is a custom for children to kill their parents when they get too old or if they can’t afford to take care of them.
ANmvx TIL about the Svalbard Seed Vault - a secure backup facility to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds, safeguarding global crop diversity against potential disasters.
4ByN TIL of a practice in Afghanistan that has older,wealthier men have young boys dance for them and used as servants and sex slaves. It is called Bacha Bazi which translates to “playing with boys.”
jNnvj TIL of Semyon Hitler, a Soviet soldier who fought against the Nazis in WW2. Despite his unlucky name, he was given a medal for bravery during the war. After the war, his family legally changed their name to Hitlev.
E4Bo TIL that there exists an ASCII copy of the matrix from start to finish, and is one of the first torrents ever to have existed. (link goes to a preview of what the movie looks like)