› added 12 years ago

89

TIL that the ancient Romans possessed an herb that was so effective at birth control that they harvested it to extinction

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wLRn7 TIL that glassblowers in Alexandria, Egypt were the first to produce clear glass around 100 AD through the introduction of manganese dioxide into the glass making process. Thereafter, the Romans began to use clear glass for architectural purposes.
Bg1gd TIL that it’s someone’s job to ride ahead of the Tour de France and erase all of the dick graffiti before the race arrives and gets shown on camera
MekdW Today I learned there is a zoo in Sari, Iran that used to feed live donkeys to their lions every Thursday until it was shut down because the lions were inexperienced and unable to efficiently kill their prey in a reasonable amount of time.
gMmn8 TIL that Korean Air accidentally strayed into Soviet Airspace, leading to the plane being shot down. To prevent such a tragedy, US President Ronald Reagan declassified a critical military tech and that is how we got GPS for civilian use.
7rG17 TIL that Scotch whisky is distilled twice and Irish whiskey three times. For this reason, the Irish claim their whiskey is a smoother and purer whiskey.