› added 12 years ago

96

TIL that after the great Chicago fire, England donated a library’s worth of books to replace the ones that burned. What England didn’t know, however, is that Chicago did not have a library before the fire.

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Z8rgB TIL that, during the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill was so impressed with the brandy produced by the Yerevan Brandy Company that he asked Joseph Stalin to send him several cases annually
yVdMe TIL: about Drag hunting, it is conducted in a similar manner to fox hunting, with a field of mounted riders following a pack of foxhounds. The primary difference is the hounds are trained to hunt a prepared scent trail laid by dragging a material soaked in aniseed or another strong smelling scent.
4X5Ag TIL, the first human flight was in 875 AD. Abbas Ibn Firnas built a glider out of silk and feathers and flew for 10 minutes, but didn't quite work out how to slow the landing until after the flight and was injured. There is a crater on the moon named after him.
m6Yv TIL that, by examining high-resolution satellite imagery with algorithms developed via trial-and-error, Sarah Parcak and her team have discovered 17 pyramids, 1,000 tombs, and over 3,100 settlements in Egypt alone. She now wants to crowdsource “space archaeology” to prevent looting of ancient sites.
GAlAG TIL that in 1859, the United States controlled almost 70% of the East African copal ("young amber") trade, with Germany controlling about 25% of the market. Copal was used to create wood varnish for furniture and carriages. The U.S. Civil War (1861– 1865) led to Germany taking control of the market.