› added 6 months ago

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TIL of a device MIT created that can read ancient, fragile books and literature without touching them by shooting the pages with beams of radiation.

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via reddit.com

1a8kr TIL a power plant in Lanai, Hawaii generates electric via diesel trains, still on the tracks.
GxQ5 TIL that 150,000 condoms were provided to the athletes at the 2012 olympics, enough for each athlete to have protected sex 15 times.
yA5J TIL that Simon the cat, a feline aboard Royal Navy Ship “The Amethyst” was awarded The Dickin Medal for gallantry under fire. The gallantry? He protected the ship’s food supplies from an infestation of rats.
VBXZG TIL when Britain entered WWI, J. R. R. Tolkien's relatives were shocked that he didn't volunteer for the British Army, which was expected of young men at the time. He later recalled, "It was a nasty cleft to be in for a young man with too much imagination and little physical courage."
D14lj TIL in 1846, Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his taxes because he objected the Mexican-American War and slavery. He spent the night in jail for his actions. This popularized the concept of Civil Disobedience, peacefully protesting a law, which later influenced Gandhi, MLK, and Leo Tolstoy.