TIL that raw sweet potatoes are actually not very sweet on their own but contain an enzyme called Beta-Amylase which breaks down the starch in the potato and turns it into sugar. When a sweet potato is cooked, the higher temperature speeds up the enzyme resulting in the sweet potato's sweetness.

conunlapiz Report

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TIL Byzantine princess Theophano, wife of Holy Roman emperor Otto was resented by the emperor's courtiers for her peculiar habits, including "luxurius tastes", like demanding to take a bath daily and using "a golden double prong to bring food to her mouth", instead of eating with her hands

Ainsley-Sorsby Report

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TIL Brazilian footballer Rivaldo grew up in poverty and suffered such malnourishment it caused caused bowleggedness and the loss of several adult teeth, and coaches saying he was too physically weak to succeed . Despite this he went onto win the World Cup, the Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.

Status-Victory Report

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TIL when Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy, came out in 1983 it was legal to use misappropriated government information to trade in the commodity markets. In 2010 it was finally made it illegal and it is known as the "Eddie Murphy Rule". (reposted with valid source)

Better__Off_Dead Report

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TIL that in 1962 there was a bill proposed to change the name of Philippines to Malaysia but the then newly independent neighbouring country took the name before the bill was passed.

keth07 Report

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TIL everyone has Olfactory Adaption and cannot smell their surroundings after a few minutes. This is why you cannot smell your house but your guests can.

PinkyAndBrains Report

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TIL: Qian Xuesen, a Chinese rocket scientist who graduated from MIT and Caltech, a major contributor to the field of engineering and aerodynamics, worked on the Manhattan Project, deported by the US during the Red Scare to China, and became the "Father of Chinese Rocketry"

Krelius Report

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TIL that the human fingertip can feel the difference between a smooth surface and one with a pattern embedded just 13 nm deep

ProlificParrot Report

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TIL in the wake of the Mississippi Burning murders, the FBI, having no leads or informants, enlisted the help of mafia enforcer Gregory Scarpa. His kidnap and 'interrogation' of a local suspect provided the information the DOJ needed to prosecute within days.

kevlarbuns Report

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TIL that during the Pony Express' 18 months of operation, it covered a distance equivalent to circling the Earth 30 times to deliver a total of 34,753 letters, and only lost one bag of mail.

ShamelessCat Report

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TIL that there's a room in the basement of Oregon State Hospital now known as, "The Room of Forgotten Souls." In 2004, several copper cans were discovered containing the remains of 3,600 psychiatric patients cremated on-site between 1917-1973.

Not-Patrick Report

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TIL that the oldest ship in the world still afloat is the USS Constitution. Built in the 1790s to serve as one of the first ships of the brand-new US Navy, she served for approximately 80 years before being removed from service and converted into a floating museum.

SplittingHares , Seaman Matthew R. Fairchild Report

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TIL in silkworm farms of 16th century Italy, delicate silkworm eggs were incubated by women who carried them in small bags next to their skin, sometimes between their breasts

RJtrip Report

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TIL Chicken Parmesan is not an Italian dish, it was invented in America by Italian immigrants and the first published recipe was in a NY newspaper in 1953. The dish became wildly popular in Australia where its served with salad and fries, although they hotly debate if the fries go under the chicken

Bluest_waters , Jadafaa Report

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TIL an Orange County man named Jeff Reitz went to Disneyland every day for over 8 years, 2,995 consecutive days, and only stopped because of Covid on March 14, 2020.

fenix1230 , Tuxyso Report

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TIL during the salem witch trials, none of the people who actually confessed of being a witch were executed. All 19 who WERE executed of being a witch refused to confess.

Demonicstar80 Report

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TIL The success of Rollerball (1975) led to promoters wanting to buy the rights to the in-film sport. The director, Norman Jewison, was outraged as the movie was to show the "sickness and insanity of contact sports and their allure."

jamescookenotthatone Report

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TIL The US banned sliced bread during WWII as a rationing measure to save the wax paper and plastic used to wrap it. The ban was reversed 3 months later because there was widespread consumer backlash and savings were less than anticipated.

glitterphobia Report

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TIL Empress Anna of Russia was known for her cruelty and once forced a prince to act as her jester and had him married to her maid. Anna had an ice palace constructed for their wedding where they were locked in for the night and informed they had to consummate if they wished to survive the cold.

ChronosBlitz Report

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TIL due to a blight that wiped out most N. American Chestnut trees, most domestic Chestnut hardwood is salvaged from old support beams or fallen trees and is very rare/expensive.

Dynomeru Report

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TIL that the Second Congo War (1998 - 2003), also known as the African World War, was the deadliest conflict since WW2 with 5.4 million deaths.

kiedtl Report

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TIL: A rattlesnake's rattle doesn’t work like a maraca, with little bits shaking inside. The rattle is actually a bunch of loosely interlocking segments made out of keratin.

novapbs Report

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TIL that in 1909 the entire town of Ulysses, Kansas was relocated 3 miles west to escape their debts

tomatoaway Report

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TIL Apple created a custom mouse colloquially nicknamed 'the hockey puck', that lasted for only two years, 1998-2000, before it was discontinued in favor of a more traditional shape. It is considered one of Apple's more notorious flops.

ChronosBlitz Report

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TIL Before the "Hot-Water-Bottle" people would use other people or animals to keep warm. Families and visitors would all sleep in the same bed. Barn animals were popular. Lap dogs were popular with the wealthy.

TimReddy Report

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TIL that in response to fans demanding the show Metalpocalipse be continued, Adult Swim set up a live stream of the a fax machine printing the petition to bring back the show… only for the faxes to be dropped straight into a trash bin.

lion_OBrian , thewrap Report

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TIL the USA and Canada don't use A4 sized paper, but instead uses Letter sized as their standard which is 8.5 inches by 11 inches.

HRapidz Report

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TIL that in Singapore, one would require a permit to own a car known as the Certificate of Entitlement (COE), often costing as much as the vehicle itself, if not more. Introduced in 1990, its implementation is largely due to regulate the growth of cars in the country.

ExtensionWees Report

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TIL Mark Twain was one of the first American writers to document native islanders surfing in Polynesia. In his 1872 travelogue, “Roughing It”, Twain describes watching it, and even attempts it himself. But only once.

kevlarbuns Report

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TIL cyber criminals with the help of A.I voice cloning software, used a deepfaked voice of a company executive to fool a Emirati bank manager to transfer 35 million dollars into their personal accounts. The bank manager had recognized the executive's voice from having worked with him before.

delano1998 , Pixabay Report

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The surface layers of the vaginal wall are made of mucosal tissue—similar to the tissue that lines your mouth, nose, and digestive tract.

danuser8 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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TIL that Terry Nichols on June 1, 2004 was sentenced to 161 life sentences plus 9,300 years parole for being an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing.

ShellHead46 Report

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TIL: Of the 8 known polar bear - grizzly bear hybrids, all of them are descended from the same mother polar bear

snoodhead Report

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TIL that the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing illusion, fooled observers in Europe and the Americas for 84 years, from its creation in 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854. It was operated by a human chess master hiding within the machine, who gave the Turk the appearance of playing chess.

ralphbernardo Report

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TIL Servilia's pearl was a black pearl given by Julius Caesar to his favourite mistress. According to Suetonius it was worth 6 million sesterces (approximately $1.5 billion now.)

HoneyGlazedBadger Report

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TIL that OMEGA, Olympic Games official timekeepers and scorers since 1932, had asked organizers before the 1976 Games whether the scoreboards needed to accommodate four digits. They were told it was not necessary. As a result, when Nadia Comaneci performed a perfect routine, the timer showed 1.00.

CyberSibey Report

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TIL that Phil Sokolof, a wealthy businessman who ate fast food daily and suffered a heart attack, launched a $15 million dollar campaign against McDonald's for their "unhealthy menu", forcing the burger chain to switch from cooking in beef tallow to the "healthier" vegetable oil.

LethalPoopstain Report

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TIL of Suero de Quiñones, a knight who spent a month camped next to a bridge with 10 of his friends to challenge every knight who crossed to a joust for no reason except to meet a goal of breaking "300 lances".

richardboucher Report

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TIL Devils Hole is a window into a vast aquifer and an unusual indicator of seismic activity around the world. The pool reacts to large quakes far away. Quakes in Mexico, Japan, Indonesia and Chile have caused water to ‘slosh’ around like water in a bathtub (up to two meter waves)

unnamed887 Report

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TIL The head of the Gestapo during WW2, Heinrich Muller, was never found. Multiple conflicting stories about his death or survival exist, and he's one of the highest ranking 'missing' Nazis.

No-Bottle8391 Report

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TIL that Francium is the second rarest naturally occurring element--as little as 20–30 g (1oz) exists at any given time throughout the Earth's crust.

slinkslowdown Report

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TIL In June 2022 Belgium returned the gold-capped tooth of Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba had been executed in 1961 and the tooth was all that remained after the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo was dissolved in acid and his bones ground to dust.

jamescookenotthatone Report

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TIL that fingernails grow 3 times faster than toenails

balaclavaloungeparty Report

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TIL In the 1940's, the Japanese army designed specialized bombs full of live mice, specifically to infect Chinese and Korean civilians with the Plague (which has a 70% mortality rate without immediate treatment).

Frisky_Cow Report

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TIL the nineteen days between September 16th and October 4th are the nineteen most common birthdays in the England and Wales

JorWat Report

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TIL that the Chinese warlord Zhang Zongchang, who ruled Shandong during a turbulent period of civil war and was known for his exceptional brutality and sexual exploits, kept his elderly mother near him at all times. Even on campaign, he gave her a personal railcar to accompany his army in.

a2soup Report

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TIL. Babies have around 300 bones in their body at birth. As they grow, the bones fuse together and become 206 bones by adulthood.

Quantum_II Report

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TIL the most effective surrender leaflet in WW2 was known as the "Passierschein". It was designed to appeal to German sensibilities for official, fancy documents printed on nice paper with official seals and signatures. It promised safe passage and generous treatment to any who presented it.

C-c-c-comboBreaker17 Report

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TIL that the 4th largest polished diamond in the world is in the King’s Crown and a previous crown was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell

SeminolesRenegade Report

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TIL of the Loughton incinerator thefts. Between 1988 and 1992 at the Bank of England's incinerator plant, four employees stole more than £600,000 of used bank notes due for incineration. They were eventually found out when the husband of one tried to deposit £100k in used £20s and £50s.

Status-Victory Report

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TIL that the British royal family owns a stamp collection worth £100 million.

cartstanza Report

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TIL that Billings, MT has the highest rate of depression in the United States (31% of the population).

LuckyLaceyKS Report

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TIL about Enforcers, an unofficial role in ice hockey who's job is to deter dirty or violent plays by the opposition by responding with more violence.

andreasdagen Report

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TIL until last year (2021), gas pumps in Hawaii were not allowed to have a hands free mode.

waiting_for_rain Report

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TIL Snoop Dogg had a sketch comedy show called "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle" in 2002 on MTV. It lasted for eight episodes. The show was canceled after the rapper asked for $1 million to return for a second season.

Bubbly-Incident Report

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TIL the NASA X-43 achieved Mach 9.6 with a jet engine. The unmanned 3.6 meter aircraft were used to prove the design and were purposely crashed into the ocean on test completion. An aircraft that could sustain this speed would be able to travel 1000 kilometers every 5 minutes.

MoronTheBall Report

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TIL a donut shop in Portland, Oregon was told by the FDA to stop adding medicine to food because it included Nyquil and Pepto Bismol to its donuts.

AudibleNod , Jia Report

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TIL that when Madonna's first single was released, the record label promoted her as a Black artist, down to making the cover a collage of downtown New York featuring Black people rather than a picture of her. This ended when she convinced the label to let her shoot a music video.

narrator_uncredited Report

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TIL that mosquitos don't feed on blood as their daily source of food; they actually consume nectar. Female mosquitos only require blood as a source of protein to develop their eggs.

Truegold43 Report

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TIL the phone number of the very first house to have a residential phone line installed was "1."

douggold11 Report

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TIL Prince Jefri of Brunei left hundreds of cars, including over 300 Mercedes-Benz sedans and convertibles, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, and others, to rot in the jungles of Brunei. An audit by the Sultan discovered $40 billion in "special transfers"; of which the Prince spent $14.8b.

OyVeyzMeir Report

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TIL that you don’t need a state driver’s license to compete in NASCAR.

ciph_3r Report

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TIL Sushi grade and Sashimi grade fish is actually super frozen fish, not fresh fish. It is frozen below -60f. in the usa, there is no regulation, and any supplier can claim sushi grade fish.

zenthing , FLY:D Report

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TIL Chicken Katsu was invented in the late 1800s by a Tokyo restaurant that wanted to offer a European-style meat cutlet to British businessmen

NotGalenNorAnsel Report

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TIL Marino Faliero, the only Doge of Venice in history to have been executed for a coup attempt, was erased from all official documentation and had his portrait in the Doge’s Palace painted over with a black cloth.

chai-knees Report

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TIL that the Castle Bravo nuclear test was 3x as powerful as the designers expected. This was due to unexpected fission of lithium-7, which greatly increased the yield of the other nuclear reactions.

ryandiy Report

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TIL: The most expensive photograph was made by Man Ray and cost $12.4 million

wwqt Report

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TIL that there were many "Southern Unionists" during the US Civil War. 40% of US Military Officers from Virginia fought for the Union and approximately 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army, with units of White Troops raised from every Southern state except South Carolina.

AspireAgain Report

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TIL that Militant Buddhist warrior monks were a major force during the warring states era of Japan with the ruler of kaga province being overthrown by them. They were only defeated when oda nobunaga waged a decade long war against them.

Choice_Shine5123 Report

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TIL That John Adams, 2nd President of the United States, acted as the legal defense for the soldiers involved in the Boston massacre. None were charged with murder, and six were acquitted of all crimes.

Annual-Load-8355 Report

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TIL the US rationed Coffee for a period of time during WWII, limiting households to 1 pound every 5 weeks, averaging out to one cup per day per household. The rationing began in November 1942 and ended in July 1943.

AspireAgain Report

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TIL Captive male orcas have a 80-90% rate of dorsal fin collapse, the rate for wild orcas has been estimated at

jamescookenotthatone Report

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