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TIL the Chinese had incense clocks in which a trail of an incense with a known rate of combustion was laid out under a labyrinth and the time calculated.

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ANkml TIL Richard M. Daley authorized the midnight bulldozing of Meigs Field, a small, downtown, lakefront airport in Chicago. This stranded 16 planes on the ground including several Fire Department helicopters. The FAA fined the city $33,000 for not giving 30 days notice ahead of an airport closure.
eprb6 TIL less humid air increases atmospheric pressure. Air is mostly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). Water vapor is less dense than air because hydrogen is lighter, so it displaces heavier gases, reducing air density and lowering pressure when humidity is high
kOj64 TIL The oldest operating library in the world was founded in 859 AD in Morocco by a woman.
xAWw TIL the Oscar nominated documentary “Liberators” narrated by Denzel Washington, interviewing African American soldiers who liberated Buchenwald concentration camp was pulled by PBS when an investigation showed no African American GI’s played a role in the liberation of Buchenwald.
1ayRd TIL The White House was completely gutted and reinforced with steel beams in 1949-50. It was only standing, in the words of the Public Buildings Administration commissioner, “by force of habit.”