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TIL 'The Land of Nod' is originally a biblical reference of a sort of purgatory where Cain was exiled after murdering Abel -- rather than a 'dreamland' sleepytime dealie as it is now colloquially known.

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DPGr TIL in Japanese Mafia, the ritual of cutting off finger for penance comes from the traditional way of holding a sword. The removal of digits starting with the little finger moving up to the index finger weakens sword grip. So that a person with a weak sword grip then has to rely more on the group.
JObm TIL that Yhprum’s Law, which is the ananym of Murphy’s Law, states that “Everything, that can work, will work.” In other words, “Sometimes systems that should not work, work nevertheless.”
Ej9W TIL that at one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations, a rail line was converted from an above-ground line into a subway. There were zero service interruptions. The lowering of the rail line’s tracks into its subway position was done in one night, during its normal service off hours lasting ~4 hours.
aGkJ TIL that over 1000 priceless books disappeared from a mountaintop abbey to the confusion of the monks and the local police, and despite reinforcing the library’s doors and changing its locks. Turned out the culprit was using a long-forgotten secret passageway found in the public archives.
rWko TIL: 1986’s Howard the Duck was such a financial disaster that it (along with his recent divorce) forced George Lucas to sell his new CGI company to Steve Jobs, giving birth to Pixar.