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TIL that traditional Japanese units of time were of unequal length, to accommodate the variation in daylight as the seasons changed. They also created mechanical clocks that varied in the same way.

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6ro8 TIL Ulysses S. Grant wrote his memoirs after being commissioned by Mark Twain. After his presidency, Grant had lost all his savings to a shady investment partner, leaving his family nearly destitute. Grant died days after finishing, but sold over 300,000 copies and earned his family over $450,000.
ZpgxY TIL that Freddy Mercury once snuck Princess Diana into a gay bar disguised as a man.
OoQpa TIL about shot towers, formerly used to produce projectiles for shotguns. Molten lead was dropped from the top of the tower and into a bucket of water at the bottom, and the force from the fall formed spherical shots.
9YxKM TIL One of the all-time boxing greats was a 5'7 tall fighter called Sam Langford who other ring legends like Jack Dempsey wouldn't fight cause of his power. He fought until the age of 43, at which stage he was nearly completely blind.
4xMw TIL a man claiming to be the younger brother of Jesus gathered a cult of followers. They started a civil war that lasted for 14 years and claimed at least 20 million lives.