› added 8 years ago

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TIL that shards of obsidian, or volcanic glass, can be refined to have a cutting edge only 3 nanometers thick. This is over 1300 times thinner than some scalpels.

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1yDX TIL a Dutch nursing home for people with dementia puts actual-size stickers of their former front doors on the doors to their rooms. This helps the patients find their rooms and gives the place a familiar feel.
xVbg7 TIL that the last person who lived during the 1800s died in 2017 - There is no one left from that century.
OGQJ1 TIL Beethoven admired Napoleon and the French Revolution. When Napoleon crowned himself emperor in 1804 Beethoven broke into a rage denouncing him, saying "He lowered himself to the level of an ordinary king."
wLKlo TIL of Howard Blackburn—a sailor who, after becoming stranded and losing his mittens in a small boat off the coast of Newfoundland, let his hands freeze in a hooked position so he could row back to shore. He lost all his fingers, but survived and went on to sail across the Atlantic single-handedly.
XlGX TIL debuting in 1979 as a one-time, 13-part series, “This Old House” was one of the earliest home improvement shows. It was initially controversial among building contractors, and the cast was afraid that they were giving away secrets of the building trades.