› added 11 years ago

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TIL Some Catholics urged Pope Clement VII to ban coffee, calling it “devil’s beverage”. After tasting the beverage, the Pope is said to have remarked that the drink was “… so delicious that it would be a sin to let only misbelievers drink it”.

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womo8 TIL in addition to being energy efficient, modern streetlights are frequently wirelessly connected, letting municipalities/utility companies know when their lightbulbs might need to get replaced.
dQNE TIL that Germany still has a “day of rest” (Ladenschlussgesetz) law that forces most businesses to close on Sunday.
mxQ5Y TIL President Ulysses S Grant's birth name was "Hirum Ulysses", but when a family friend mistakenly submitted his name to West Point as "US Grant" he became Ulysses S Grant. West Point would not allow any correction to his application.
n5MB TIL figs aren’t always considered vegetarian. This is because when a wasp pollinates them, the fig’s inward facing flowers often trap the wasp and absorb her into the fig.
NlGN TIL that wonderful smell in the air after it rains is a combination of plant oils, bacterial spores, and ozone.