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192

TIL if an “hourglass” measures any time other than an hour, it is actually called a “clepsammia.”

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rRW0w TIL that Abraham Lincoln was challenged to a duel in 1842. As the challenged party, he would have the right to select the weapons used. He accepted the challenge and chose broadswords "of the largest size" in order to take advantage of his superior reach.
MpK8 Today I learned that there is a self mummification practice, in which extreme ascetics commit suicide over ten years with the goal of turning their own body into a mummy as a sign of spiritual enlightenment.
BRKe TIL: In 2000 the KKK adopted a stretch of highway near St Louis, the MO government responded by renaming the road the “Rosa Parks Highway”.
w5OP TIL that Ben Franklin, after conceiving an illegitimate son, advocated sexual affairs with older women, claiming that “it is less sinful to have sex with an older woman than to debauch a virgin.”
699jQ TIL the gyroscopic monorail was invented in Ireland and despite being championed by Churchill, didn’t catch on.