› added 9 years ago

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TIL That California has a similar GDP to Brazil.

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D17LY TIL In 2013, Britney Spear’s music was used by British Naval Officers to ward off Somali Pirates in the east coast of Africa. According to one officer: “As soon as the pirates get a blast of Britney, they move on as quickly as they can."
WkMeN TIL that Bethesda (creators of Skyrim) promised to give lifetime free Bethesda games to anyone who named their newborn child "Dovahkiin" on 11/11/11. Turns out, one family did it. Dovahkiin will be turning 8 this year.
4B6o TIL of Johnathan Ayers, the minister murdered by a Georgia drug task force unit in 2009 while he was giving $23 to a woman who was about to be evicted.
wE56 TIL native speakers of tone languages (such as Mandarin and Vietnamese) are much more likely to have ‘perfect pitch’ and can identify musical notes much more accurately than native speakers of non-tone languages, such as English.
6EnYX TIL that a Chinese billionaire sparked social backlash by purchasing a rare 500 year old tea cup for 38 million dollars, and then drinking tea out of it. To appease people angered by his using it, Liu Yiqian said “I’m not going to use it ever day.”