› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the coin-operated vending machine was invented about 2,000 years ago by Hero of Alexandria, an engineer and mathematician in first-century Roman Egypt. Users inserted a coin, which fell onto a pan that was attached to a lever that opened a valve and dispensed holy water.

M7X0B TIL Iran is the only country where it’s legal to sell your organs, so demand always meets supply. A kidney is worth $231 USD and the government contributes part of the cost.
4j4R TIL that some orthodox Jewish communities have volunteer ambulance services which survive solely on donations. They don’t bill the patient for transporting them to the hospital, have a faster response time than most ambulance companies, and don’t exclusively service Jews.
neenb TIL that a 28-hour killing spree was stopped by Joseph Lozito. After the killer's arrest, the police left Lozito in the subway to bleed. Lozito later sued the police and took it to Supreme Court which both ruled that the police had no duty to protect its citizens.
BgWnb TIL Sadleria cyatheoides, or ʻamaʻu, is a fern endemic to Hawaii and is found in lava flows, open areas, and wet forests on all major islands. the ferns young fronds are often tinted red to protect against harmful sun rays
VB1w0 TIL - The first automotive recall was for the Ford Model T due to chigger bites. Ford either used Spanish Moss for seat padding or Spanish Moss as stuffing for Cypress wood crates, with the Cypress being used for the dashboard. Both items created a small ecosystem for the chiggers.