› added 7 months ago

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TIL of the "Demon Cat" that is said to haunt both the US Capitol and White House. The first reports of its presence date back to 1862, and its presence is said to be an ill omen, with sightings presaging both the 1929 Stock Market Crash and JFK's assassination.

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nbMY TIL the US Capitol has a 116-year-old private subway for the exclusive use of congressmen and their staff
7rDdZ TIL Tamil Siddhas carve iconic symbols for the Hindu god Shiva out of solidified mercury, using a secret process to solidify the mercury passed down through centuries which has still not been totally understood or replicated using modern chemistry
xVrW5 TIL about 'brain fuck' a programming language that it has only 8 valid characters
5Y6B TIL that stoplights are yellow 1 second for every 10 MPH of the posted speed limit.
P1OeG TIL that the swedish word for conducting invesigative journalism is named after the german invesigative journalist Günter Wallraff