› added 8 months ago

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TIL that the first female US senator, Rebecca Latimer Felton, was also the last congressperson to ever own slaves.

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XEw1P TIL that during the Vietnam War, America made a recording that has terrifying sounds, then played those sounds in the jungle at night.
Br7Ex TIL In 1904, tea bags were invented accidentally. The inventor, Thomas Sullivan, decided that it was cheaper to send small samples to potential customers in silk bags instead of boxes. The recipients believed they were meant to be dunked and soon Sullivan was flooded with orders for his “tea bags.”
NBm8 TIL that Tibetans have a gene mutation that may represent the strongest instance of documented evolution in humans.
VMBvB TIL: Detroit, synonymous with the auto industry, has a driverless monorail system that moves about 2.4 million people a year.
Y7VKB TIL about Robert Liston, a British surgeon noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anesthetics. His most famous case involved a leg amputation that took 2 1/2 minutes, and resulted in the amputation of his assistant's fingers and the coat tails of a surgical spectator.