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TIL the eight-spotted crab spider (Platythomisus octomaculatus) is one of the most unnatural-looking spiders around with it highly contrasting black dots on bright yellow abdomen. It was found in a forest preserve in Singapore in 1924, and it is among the largest crab spiders at one inch in length.

QBZE TIL that since Paul G. Lind of Portland, Oregon, loved to play Scrabble so much, his family and friends decided to have a Scrabble-themed tombstone made just for him when he died in 2005.
j6PAE TIL Americans were forbidden to travel to China until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter made the decision to normalize relations with China
aw08Z TIL Steven Russell escaped from prison by using laxatives to fake the symptoms of AIDS. He then called the prison, posing as a doctor, asking for prisoners interested in an experimental treatment, and volunteered. Once out of Texas, he sent a death certificate to the prison stating he had died.
R517a TIL in 1936, Japanese woman Sada Abe strangled her lover, then cut off his genitals and kept them in her kimono. The story became a national sensation in Japan and later inspired books, films, and art.
P1Wge TIL: Seiji Yoshida WW2 memoir, "My War Crimes" detailing his many war crimes against comfort women became a hit and even used by George Hicks, the NYT, etc. It even spread across Korea. However, after his death, his son revealed he made up his war crimes for money as he was poor after the war.