› added 4 years ago

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TIL that due to logging and grazing, the percent of the US state of Vermont covered by forest was just 30% in 1870. Today, that figure is around 78%!

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VB0Rm TIL: All the dog scast as Lassie in TV and movies have been descendants of the first dog to play the role
LQOgm TIL John Jacob Astor arrived in New York City with a suitcase full of flutes to start a music store. A few years later he one of the richest Americans ever. He made his fortune in furs and real estate.
dDM18 TIL about Tarrare, an 18th century Frenchman with an insatiable appetite who ate live animals as a street performer, ate spy documents for the military, and ate and drank human blood and remains at the hospital, among many other things.
nW7Wd TIL that the wristwatch was originally worn by women, only becoming accepted as a men's accessory over a century later due to the need for efficient, one-handed timekeeping by pilots and soldiers.
R7Rv8 TIL two y/o Karlee Kosolofski was found dead, frozen to her porch in 1994. She had followed her dad out of the house on a -22°C morning and couldn't reach the handle to get back in. Over five hours later, she was found and amazingly revived with only the lower part of her leg needing amputation.