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TIL Early microscopes made of wood and cardboard, often adorned with polished fish skin, became increasingly popular in the mid-17th century and was used by the English natural philosopher Robert Hooke to provide regular demonstrations for the new Royal Society

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GANAj TIL Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi) as a child was diagnosed with spinal TB. He was wrapped in a full body cast, told he would never walk, and spent most of the first 9 years of his life in hospitals being treated. When he was finally released his family was interned in a camp for the duration of WWII.
R7rK7 TIL that in 1949 the Costa Rican government abolished their army, stating that the army "would be replaced with an army of teachers." The country has free universal public education and a literacy rate of 97%.
E16AP TIL that,during the Cold War, the Canadian government commissioned the creation of a device that could detect homosexuality in people in order to keep members of the LGBT community out of public service or the military.Its nickname?"Fruit Machine".
R7nXw TIL Chimpanzees have got all the cognitive abilities necessary for the human-only practice of cooking. They understand that cooking is a process - that food is transformed into a tastier form; they don’t do it in the wild because they’ve never learned to manage fire.
awgp9 TIL I learned that South Korea's GDP per Capita in 1960 was $79, and received aid from many African nations because it was so poor. It is now the 12th biggest economy in the world