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TIL Kaiser Wilhelm II drew up plans to invade the United States in 1897. The plan called for an attack on Boston and New York in order to neuter American power in the Pacific.

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via reddit.com

rWn0 TIL An entire town was completely destroyed by a single, massive tornado. Population is currently zero and there are no plans to rebuild.
LkKXr TIL the first Indian medical book "Atharva Veda" includes a fairly detailed germ theory, as it describes a number of pathogens and possible cures for disease. The book was written in 200BC, but it's ideas can be dated back to 1000BC. Germ theory was not proven correct until the 19th Century AD.
wxMo TIL that in 2013, a researcher at UW managed the first human to human brain interface through the Internet by wearing a cap and playing a video game. When he wanted to shoot a missile, he thought “fire” and another researcher across campus’s finger moved involuntarily and pressed the fire button.
xVR7B TIL that daily or weekly streak doesn’t motivate people to continue doing something once it’s discontinued. Rather, it’s better to show the total number of days that you did something since the number will never be decreased and never demotivate users.
jN4wR TIL in 2015 "Hello Barbie" was released. She used speech recognition and connected to wifi. When you pressed her belt buckle, Barbie saved what you said to the cloud so she could learn your likes and dislikes and incorporate them into future conversations. Some parents found it "too creepy".