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TIL Socrates was very worried that the increasing use of books in education would have the effect of ruining students' ability to memorise things. We only remember this now because Plato wrote it down.

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69vMQ TIL In Iceland, the tradition of Jólabókaflóð, or the "Christmas Book Flood," involves exchanging books on Christmas Eve and then spending the evening reading. This tradition stems from World War II when paper was one of the few commodities not rationed in Iceland.
9P07 TIL that Robin Williams was the first person to make Christopher Reeve laugh after his tragic horseback accident by disguising himself as a crazy russian doctor and sneaking into the hospital room
GNaQ TIL while Jethro Tull were touring the US in 1969, their manager asked them to write a hit single for the UK while they were gone. In response, they released the least commercial song possible, in 5/4 time signature and lyrics that criticised the hippie culture. It was a hit in both the UK and US.
DQ0jr TIL about William Hoy, the most accomplished deaf player in MLB history. He couldn’t hear the umpire’s ball & strike calls, & the stadium had no scoreboard for him to follow the count. So, the third-base coach signaled to him by raising his left index finger for a ball, the right for a strike.
ooVW TIL the first artificial insemination took place in 1884 when a med professor injected his unconscious patient with the semen of “his most handsome student”, unbeknownst to both the woman and her infertile husband.