› added 1 hour ago

TIL that before the invention of glasses, people would shape and polish stones made of quartz and other materials until they formed a lens. They would then place the stone on whatever they wanted to read, magnifying it.

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kOwQd TIL Winnie-the-Pooh was a real bear. A veterinarian purchased a black bear cub from a hunter on his way to WWI. He named her Winnie for his hometown Winnipeg. Before shipping off to the front, he left her at the London Zoo, where she caught the affection of Christopher Robin, author A.A.Milne's son.
kmX7 TIL all of the JFK files are scheduled to be opened by the end of October.
NlXe TIL of “I am Rich”, a $999.99 app which did nothing except state that you are rich. It was bought by eight people before being taken down by Apple.
vPQQ8 TIL rock band Seven Mary Three got their name from 70's television show CHiPs - it's motorcycle cop Jon Baker's call sign
vP8W4 TIL on November 12, 1833, there was a meteor shower so intense that it was described as meteors "falling like snowflakes". It was so intense that it was thought to be the end of the world, but at the same time it gave birth to the study of meteor astronomy.