› added 7 years ago

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TIL Jelly Roll Morton, at the age of 14 tricked his great-grandmother into believing he was a night watchman at a barrel house when in fact he was working as a piano player in a brothel. In that atmosphere, he often sang smutty lyrics; he took the nickname "Jelly Roll", which was slang for vagina.

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neVO7 TIL The famous painting of a dog looking down a gramophone funnel, used as a logo by various companies, was inspired by the artists dog, Nipper. He inherited the animal from his dead brother, and noted that Nipper would look down a gramophone when a recording of his dead owner’s voice was played.
PJaO TIL in 2010 an insurance company denied coverage for surgery to repair a newborn’s heart defect in which the two major vessels that carry blood away from the heart are reversed, as it was a “pre-existing condition.”
7rJGx TIL that a Herpes virus, Murid gammaherpesvirus 68, symbiotically protects its host from Yersinia pestis (Bubonic Plague)
oQR7 TIL most birds can’t move their eyes, which are not spherical like in mammals. They are also tetrachomatic, meaning they have 4 retinal cones (primary colors) versus 3 in humans, allowing most birds to see the UV spectrum and distinguish between colors that appear identical to humans.
WQpA TIL men who pee while sitting down more effectively empty their bladders thereby reducing the risk of prostate cancer.