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TIL the “pencil test” was used during Apartheid in South Africa to decide if a child got to grow up white or “coloured” (biracial). If your hair wasn’t curly enough to hold a pencil, you “passed” as white.

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jN80E TIL nomadic Maasai herders in Kenya's savanna use mobile phones to alert each other to dangerous wildlife, and those with basic phones call friends with smartphones to find out the weather forecast
b95LE TIL of the fish kick, a technique in swimming where the swimmer turns sideways and mimics the motion of an eel. It is arguably the fastest way to swim and was once famously used in the 2000 Olympics by Misty Hyman to win the 200m butterfly. However, this kick is rarely used owing to its difficulty.
N77LN Til: That a Japanese Village was spared being destroyed during the 2011 tsunami by its huge seawall - a wall that its previous mayor had been harshly criticized for building
gJL4 TIL that Stephen King was recognised by an Old Lady in a store who criticised him for writing scary stories. Saying She preferred uplifting stories like The Shawshank Redemption. Completely unaware it was based on his short story.
j6A5R TIL that the Doors’ second manager, Danny Sugerman, began working with the Doors when he was just 12 years old, by answering their fan mail. Following the death of Jim Morrison in 1971, Sugerman replaced the original Doors’ manager, Bill Siddons, at just age 17.