› added 4 years ago

181

TIL that D.C. has no J street because in the alphabet at the time, I and J were used interchangeably

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Obx6 TIL the the first vending machine, invented in the first century, dispensed holy water.
R7ymj TIL that lightning can't strike the same place twice is a myth. It can, and often does strike the same place repeatedly. The Empire State Building gets struck about 25 times per year
rRdv0 TIL In Ancient Egypt, elite dined off meat, fruit, vegetables, and honey-sweetened cakes enhanced by the finest of wines, but the poor were limited to a more monotonous diet of bread, fish, beans, onions and garlic washed down with a sweet, soupy beer
JYQxk TIL that 95% of the world's food needs are provided by just 30 species of plants. At least 12,650 species names have been compiled as edible.
J1dYm TIL a man known as Hong Xiuquan, who lived in China during the 19th century, claimed to be the brother of Jesus Christ. He tried to overthrow the then-ruling Qing Dynasty with his own Christian kingdom, known as Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict resulted in approximately 20 million deaths.