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TIL the word quarantine comes from the Venetian "quaranta" meaning 40, for the 40 days that ships were supposed to stay off the coast in Europe to prevent the spread of the black death in the 1300s

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6EYjw TIL that big cats like tigers and cheetahs are attracted to Calvin Klein's Obsession. The Banham Zoo has requested people to drop off their perfumes due to low supplies. The fragrance has also been used in India in 2018 to catch a reported man-eating tiger.
EgyjV TIL: Vikings were extremely well kept for their time. So much so that an English cleric claim that they bathe regularly, comb their hair, and change clothes frequently to seduce highborn English women to their heathen ways. Numerous bone combs, tweezers, and earspoons have been found.
rBDx TIL around 1054 AD, a bright star appeared in the sky that Chinese astronomers could see in broad daylight for 23 straight days. It was not until almost 900 years later that Dutch astronomer Jan Oort identified that starburst as a supernovae in its remnant form… the Crab Nebula.
a8pWA TIL A man named Charles Osborne had hiccups non-stop for approximately 68 years, from 1922 to 1990. In 1922, he was weighing a hog for slaughter. He fell and busted a blood vessel in his brain resulting in him damaging a small part of the brain that inhibits the hiccup response.
17vr TIL that Tolkien himself considered Sam (Samwise Gamgee) the chief hero of “Lord of the Rings”.