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TIL that a heavily Christianized version of Buddha’s story was immensely popular in Europe in the 11th century as the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat; although British became first aware of Buddhism’s existence as a religion only in the 19th century.

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x6blB TIL that some members of the Sama-Banjau ethnic group intentionally rupture their ear drums at a young age in order to improve their ability to dive & hunt at sea. This allows them to dive for extended periods of time between varying depths without worrying about pain from water pressure changes
4E9R TIL Freddy Mercury took Lady Di to a gay bar…
E14A0 TIL that poisonous food substances are the reason we find bitter taste unpleasant. Our taste buds evolved associating bitter taste to poison because most of the poisonous wild fruits are bitter & nutritious ones, sweet. The feature which protected us for centuries is now causing major health-risks.
pYrEQ TIL of the atomic recoilless rifle called the Davy Crockett gun. Armed with a W54 warhead, it still remains the smallest nuclear weapon system ever built.
eBjD TIL there is a perfectly painless of killing someone through nitrogen asphyxiation by cutting off oxygen while still supplying nitrogen so that the body does not experience a suffocating sensation. However, this method is not used by any government as a method of capital punishment.