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TIL that Aaron Sorkin refitted a speech written for and rejected by former CA Gov. Gray Davis to address the events of September 11th. It went on to be one of the most iconic moments in the West Wing

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e0oOg TIL "Solitary Orchard", a piece of Chinese music composed for the guqin, is likely the oldest surviving piece of written music in East Asia and it features mysterious effects that sound modern to new listeners. The manuscript was written during Tang Dynasty, 7th century, and it is now in Kyoto
4XQoa TIL about the cube teapot, which is a teapot whose main purpose was to be used on a ship. The cube shape of the teapot would stabilize it so that it would not roll over and scald the person making the drink, whereas conventional curved teapots would roll over when the ship rocked from side to side.
MeD60 TIL Alexander the Great wept when he heard Anaxarchus teach about an infinite number of worlds. When his friends inquired what ailed him, "Is it not worthy of tears," he said, "that, when the number of worlds is infinite, we have not yet become lords of a single one?"
8aDgV TIL that during the early 1900s, a debate raged about whether or not it was acceptable to portray wild animals with human-like thoughts and emotions in nature writing. President Teddy Roosevelt got involved, harshly criticizing writers who anthropomorphized wildlife—and dubbing them "nature fakers".
KK6 TIL Nikola Tesla believed he invented a death ray that caused the Tunguska explosion.