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The Scottish Highlands, the Appalachian Mountains in the USA, and the Atlas Mountains in North Africa were once all part of the same mountain range.
(Image: Pedro Correia & J. Brendan Murphy; CC BY.)
627
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Cats can safely receive blood transfusions from dogs - but only once.
A second transfusion of dog blood is often fatal.
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Word of the day: TOSIE (Scots) - warm, snug and comfortable
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In 2010, a debate between the two candidates for prime minister of Australia had to be rescheduled because it conflicted with the final of Masterchef.
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In 1795, a French cavalry regiment won a battle against a Dutch naval fleet.
The fleet had frozen in ice, so the cavalry just rode up and surrounded them.
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According to a historical anecdote, a Neapolitan nobleman once fought 14 duels to prove that Dante was a better poet than Ariosto. At his deathbed, he confessed that he had read neither of them.
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It's not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do. It's that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have. GARY KELLER
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‘Is there any mice in your arse?’ was a 19th-century Scottish way of replying to someone who is referring to themselves as ‘we’.
634
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During the period from 2019 to November 2021, the usage of English swearwords increased by 41% on Facebook and 27% on Twitter.
635
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The technology for the Roomba was originally created for military robots clearing minefields.
636
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Word of the Day (Dutch, slang): AZIJNPISSER — someone who constantly makes negative and critical comments; the literal meaning is ‘a vinegar pisser’.
637
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1922 was an important year in western literature: the publication of ‘Ulysses' in full by James Joyce and ‘The Wasteland’ by T.S. Eliot, the death of Marcel Proust and it's the year in which F. Scott Fitzgerald set 'The Great Gatsby’.
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Neptune is the only planet in the Solar System that is never visible to the naked eye.
639
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After Christmas, many zoos give used Christmas trees to their animals as enrichment.
640
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People think cynics are smarter than optimists, but cynics actually do worse on tests of cognitive ability.
641
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Word of the day: BAYARD - someone with all the self-confidence born of ignorance
642
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In Norwegian, the period between Christmas and the New Year is called ROMJUL. Etymologically, it comes from Old Norse jól (Christmas) + rúmheilagr ("that needs not adhere strictly to legal proscriptions for a holiday").
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According to addiction researchers, it is extremely difficult to get hamsters drunk.
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According to a 2012 Radio 4 analysis, Cabot Cove, Maine - home to Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote - has the highest murder rate of any fictional town.
645
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After the French Revolution, the French government introduced a new calendar.
To replace saint's days, every day was renamed in honor of something important to rural French life.
In this calendar, 28 December was the day of manure.
646
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Word of the day: MERRYNEUM (neologism) - the odd week between Christmas and the New Year, mostly occupied by eating leftovers and taking naps
647
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I use a lot of what I learned from chess in my day to day life. For example, I never let a horse position itself so it can attack both me and my wife in a single move. COREY MOHLER
648
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The Sherlock Holmes Museum is located at 239 Baker Street, but it is allowed by the City of Westminster to use the 221B address.
649
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The ‘mas’ in ‘Christmas’ comes from the word ‘mass’, which, in its turn, is thought to come from the Latin phrase ‘Ite, missa est’ spoken by a priest at the end of the liturgy and which can be translated as ‘Go, it is the dismissal’. So Christmas means 'go away Christ'.
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This year’s PNC Christmas Price Index (based on the cost of the gifts listed in the 12 Days of Christmas) is 5.7% up on 2020 to $41,205.58, with the biggest increase of +57% attributed to the cost of six geese-a-laying at $660.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves