› added 5 months ago

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TIL Samuel Morse, known today for the telegraph, was also a prolific painter. He created a 6' by 9' painting with more than three dozen Louvre masterpieces in miniature, to serve as a "textbook" to American painters. A small Mona Lisa is in there too.

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VMLXG TIL that koalas have one of the smallest brains in proportion to body weight of any mammal. They are so dumb, that when presented with leaves on a flat surface instead of on branches, they are unable to recognize them as food and will not eat them.
WkAM8 TIL Antony Van Leeuwenhoek made lenses for his microscope, which had up to 300X magnification. He is credited with discovering bacteria, protists, nematodes, and spermatozoa, among other things. He examined and drew the “animalcules” of his own semen after sex
gwa8 TIL that Steve Jobs contracted a form of cancer that was slow growing and most likely to be cured, and the reason he didn’t survive was because he chose to hold off surgery for 9 months in favor of alternative treatments like acupuncture, dietary supplements and juices
VL40 TIL - Al-Aziz Uthman, Sultan Of Egypt And Son of Saladin, Tried To Tear Down The Great Pyramids at Giza, But After Removing Only ~400 Stones In 8 Months, Gave Up On The Expensive Project, Leaving A Gash On The Smallest Of The Three Massive Structures
knN5 TIL the Rolex watch company is run by not-for-profit charitable trusts. So after a certain amount of money goes to Rolex employees & the founding Rolex family, what remains is donated to charities. Some of these charities focus on watchmaking & some on HS education. Rolex founder was an orphan.