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TIL that two out of three French Canadians are descended from just 800 women, the so-called "Filles du Roi" [Daughters of the King], who were mostly poor women, many of them orphans, imported into New France between 1663 and 1673.

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W7dkN TIL the original endowment for the Smithsonian was lost due to being invested in bad treasury bonds issued by Arkansas, and had to be restored with new funds from Congress with interest. It was the equivalent to $220 million dollars adjusted for inflation and GDP.
MeRkm TIL that the University of Glasgow created an artificial tongue using gold and aluminum that can distinguish between whiskeys with 99% accuracy, with the goal of reducing counterfeit alcohol in circulation.
rRnww TIL: In 2015, Japan declared Godzilla as an official citizen...
AN9L4 TIL Hawaiian slack-key guitar tunings were once guarded fiercely and passed down as family secrets.
pYA44 TIL about the tapetum lucidum of Arctic reindeer eyes, which changes color from gold in summer to blue in winter to improve their vision during times of continuous darkness, and perhaps enable them to better spot predators. They can also see within the ultraviolet range.