› added 9 years ago

177

TIL Shakespeare invented the names Miranda, Jessica, and Olivia.

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via reddit.com

R7jyQ TIL that in south London in 1864, Thomas Webster Rammell built an atmospheric railway for passenger transportation, called Crystal Palace Pneumatic Railway, that went around 39.6 km/h (24.6 mph) through a 2.7x3m tunnel just by varying the air pressure in the tunnel before/behind the railway wagon.
aG90 TIL that the Roman Empire was not the largest empire in history, it is in fact only the 28th largest empire in history
grO8L TIL Life expectancy in the U.S. varies considerably by state, with West Virginia trailing California by 6.9 years and Hawaii by 7.9 years
P1ARE TIL the serjeant at arms of the house of commons in the United Kingdom since 2008 has been a woman, an arab man, then a black man.
N7JQJ TIL Eric Clapton had a Cameo on the Corey Hart album "First Offense" playing on the "Sunglasses at Night" track.