› added 9 years ago

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TIL that in from the 1880s to the 1900s, pollution caused by horses was so severe, the presence of the (then unheard of) automobile was regarded as a saviour, as it did not pollute the streets with manure, urine and dead horses.

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grZL4 TIL The oldest person alive is 116 and was born in 1907
YpbYP TIL: 13 nations in Europe have Blasphemy laws with punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment.
E1BX TIL We waste half or more of all the food we produce each year.
gMGvL TIL in ancient Sri Lanka, they used winds driven by the yearly monsoons to power some of the first steel-making furnaces to produce what's called Wootz Steel.
nWppP TIL about the Liber Paradisus (Paradise Book), a law text promulgated in 1256 by the city of Bologna (Italy) which proclaimed the abolition of slavery and the release of serfs. On 25 August 1256, the head of city government announced the liberation of about 6,000 serfs, owned by 400 lords