› added 9 months ago

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TIL: Rice brokers were extremely influential during the Edo period. Rice brokers provided rice loans, set up the Kyoto central rice market, and introduced paper money. However, inflation, the inability of samurai to pay back their loans, and the debasement of rice ended the rice broker profession.

VbLm TIL that Alexandre Vattemare, who created the first cultural exchange system between public libraries and museums, was a ventriloquist who trained as a surgeon, but was refused a diploma after making cadavers seem to speak during surgical exercises.
vJ9D TIL the water resistance depth shown on a watch does not mean the watch can actually be taken to that depth. A watch classified for 30 meters should not even be taken into the shower.
40eb TIL James Cameron originally did not want Titanic to have a theme song. Composer James Horner got Celine Dion to record the song ‘My Heart Will Go On’ in secret. Dion disliked the song and only one take was done, this demo version was eventually used and Dion has never recorded the song again.
awVK0 TIL that a frog was the mainstream pregnancy test in the 1950s. If a woman’s urine injected into the frog caused it to lay eggs, then the woman was pregnant.
X0DG6 TIL One day before the end of WW2, the German Cruise Liner, SS Cap Arcona was attacked and sunk by the RAF. The ship was used to hold concentration camp prisoners and 5000 were killed. Swedish intelligence had passed this information to the allies but it wasn't forwarded to the RAF.