› added 3 years ago

151

TIL that for many years prior to the Crusades, Muslims, Jews, and Christians worked together to translate and reproduce Ancient Greek texts, like Aristotle, to reintroduce lost literature to the world.

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WVwX TIL Thomas Edison was one of the first movie pirates. He stole prints of Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon and distributed them in the United States. Shortly afterward, Méliès went bankrupt
GZlj TIL that the average IQ has been going up. If a typical person from 1910 time-transported to the present, they would have a mean IQ of 70, which is at the border of mental retardation.
W7dRL TIL there is a mummified forest of redwood trees on a Canadian island in the high Arctic close to the North Pole. Some of the trees were up to 140 feet tall and grew during a warm period in the earth's history, despite 3 full months of darkness each year.
epWQE TIL that, during WW2, the USA wanted to turn France into a puppet state and abolish its'national sovereignty
Z8r4a TIL of the "singing" Colossi of Memnon, two large statues of Pharoah Amenhotep III, which have been described throughout history as making low moaning, whistling, or blowing noises due to vaporizing dew escaping from cracks within the statues.