› added 11 years ago

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TIL that he head of MGM referred to Judy Garland as his “little hunchback,” and forced her to wear caps on her teeth and rubber disks in her nose. She was given amphetamines and barbituates as a child actress. This lead to the lifelong self-esteem and drug problems that later killed her.

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xAEb TIL in medieval times the Japanese used to dye their teeth black. It also acts as a dental sealant to prevent tooth decay. The reason for this was objects that were pitch black, such as glaze-like lacquer, were seen as beautiful.
N6XP TIL that Japan Railways keeps a dying, underused train station in operation in order for one high school student to get to her school.
j61wR TIL about the Younger Dryas Impact Theory, the idea that 12,800 years ago, the resulting impacts from a comet breaking up over earth's atmosphere would have struck glaciers and ice caps across the globe could have caused the great flood present in many ancient culture's stories/myths
rRkxM TIL the eight-spotted crab spider (Platythomisus octomaculatus) is one of the most unnatural-looking spiders around with it highly contrasting black dots on bright yellow abdomen. It was found in a forest preserve in Singapore in 1924, and it is among the largest crab spiders at one inch in length.
PYWbJ TIL Handedness (directional) preferences are found in birds. When equal safety paths are presented to a bird individual birds will have a definite repeated preferences for a direction to fly.