› added 5 years ago

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TIL of the General delegation for the French language and languages of France (aka the French Language Police) whose job is to research emerging English words and come up with French equivalents to keep the language alive.

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via reddit.com

7rM67 TIL that up until the 1970s it was common for people to use a Foot-o-scope to x-ray their feet when shopping for shoes. The practice was discontinued once the risks to radiation were fully realized.
Lk7Pp Today I learned that,Jack Daniels died of sepsis in Lynchburg on October 9, 1911. The infection began in one of his toes, which Daniel injured one morning at work by kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it opened. (It was rumored that he would often times forget the safe combination.)
WMPB TIL Crime Rate in the Philippines Drops Drastically During Pacquiao Fights
e0Pgb TIL that the French writer and philosopher Georges Bataille founded a secret society called Acéphale to explore ritualism and human sacrifice, but apparently everyone volunteered to be the sacrificial victim and no one wanted to be the executioner so no sacrifice was ever carried out.
vyGB TIL that in the 1850s, the Xhosa killed all their cattle and burned all their crops because “the spirits told them to”. ~40,000 people starved to death.