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TIL that rural Americans used barbed wire to connect their telephones to switchboards since there were no telephone lines.

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N7dbb TIL of a French soldier called Tarrare, who could eat a meal intended for 15 people in a single sitting, ate live cats, snakes, lizards and puppies. He would also sweat profusely and had an odor that was described as “fetid beyond all conception”.
6Eagw TIL one of Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante’s first major influences was Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak.
XQwk TIL That undersea telecommunications cables across the Back Sea were laid during Crimean War in 1855.
JYK8Q TIL that Velcro was invented after burrs kept getting stuck to George de Mestral's socks, so he put one under a microscope and got the idea for a "hook and loop" inspired closure method.
b9Qxp TIL David Koresh (Wacos of Waco leader) was in a Christian rock band