1251
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Seals regulate their body temperature by keeping their heads and tails off the cold wet floor, in what is known as the ‘banana pose’. 📷: Ibex73
1252
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In Catalonia, there is a Christmas tradition of ‘feeding’ a hollowed-out log for several days and then beating it until it ‘defecates’ presents. The log is called ‘Caga Tió’, literally ‘Shit Log’.
1253
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In Utrecht, for George Orwell's birthday, local artists put party hats on the city's CCTV cameras. 📷:Dutch artists 'Front404'
1254
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In 1966, the Procrastinators' Club of America held a protest against the War of 1812.
1255
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An ENDLING is the last surviving individual of a species.
1256
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"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." DOUGLAS ADAMS
1257
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You can in fact be WHELMED.
The term predates OVERWHELMED, and means overcome, engulfed, or submerged.
1258
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In the 1950s, the French government’s pro-sobriety campaign featured posters saying ‘No More Than a Litre of Wine a Day’.
1259
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The Three Gorges dam in China shifted so much water when it was built that it slowed the world’s rotation (but only by 0.06 microseconds) and moved the poles by 2cm.
1260
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In the 1980s you had 17 minutes to escape a house fire in the average American home, but because of the flammability of modern furniture, it’s now closer to 3 minutes.
1261
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HYPNIC JERK - the sensation that jolts you awake as you’re about to nod off.
1262
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Men with larger noses also have larger penises.
1263
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Word of the day: SPUDDLE - to work hard but achieve nothing
1264
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"We are trying to unravel the Mighty Infinite using a language which was designed to tell one another where the fresh fruit was." TERRY PRATCHETT
1265
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94% of Parisians live within a five minute walk of a bakery.
1266
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The Cookie Monster’s real name is Sid.
1267
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Word of the day: MERRYNEUM (neologism) - the odd week between Christmas and the New Year
1268
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"If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair." SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, first Black woman elected to the US Congress
1269
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Word of the day: ABLIGURITION - excessive spending on food and drink
1270
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In the French Republican calendar, every day was named after something important to rural French life.
28 December was the day of manure.
1271
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The small village of Villar de Corneja, Spain celebrates the New Year at noon instead of midnight, as many of the residents are elderly and want to go to bed early.
1272
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Julia Child was 6' 2" (188 cm) and so dominant at college basketball that the administration at her college banned her from dunking.
1273
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"[Young people today] think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it." ARISTOTLE (4th century BCE)
1274
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Germany has three times as many sausage varieties as the French have cheeses.
1275
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Word of the Day: DIÀNZǏ ZHÀCÀI (Chinese, slang) — a non-demanding entertainment, for instance, a TV show to enjoy after a long day at work, a mental comfort food; literally ‘cyber pickle’.
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A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
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