TIL Spartan law forbade the marriage of a girl until she was in her late teens or early 20s. The reasons were to ensure the birth of healthy children; and to spare women the risks and lifelong health damage associated with adolescent pregnancy. [source, comments]

TIL 'Botanical sexism' refers to the practice of preferentially planting cloned male plants in urban areas to avoid the litter of fruits and flowers. However, since male plants produce pollen, this can lead to high pollen levels in the air, making the area inhospitable for people with allergies. [source, comments]

TIL that only three objects have ever been found inside the Great Pyramid of Giza- pieces of wood, a ball made of diorite, and a copper hook. They were found in 1872 in a shaft leading from the Queen's Chamber. [source, comments]

Sent by @holythelen

TIL Partway through the hour-long trial of former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena, their lawyers abandoned their defense and sided with the prosecutors. Afterwards, their execution by firing squad happened so quickly that the TV crew was unable to film the execution in full. [source, comments]

TIL that in 1910 English pranksters disguised as Ethiopian diplomats fooled the Royal Navy into giving them a tour of HMS Dreadnought. They spoke a gibberish of mostly Greek and Latin and would shout "Bunga bunga!" to express astonishment. One of them was author Virginia Woolf. [source, comments]