› added 12 years ago

82

TIL that not only were there Kings and Popes in the Middle Ages, there were Antikings and Antipopes.

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1avX TIL, according to the director, that the unopened package in Cast Away contained a working solar-powered and waterproof satellite phone.
167GO TIL Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles) built a speaking machine out of bellows and leather lips that could generate sounds similar to 'ma' and 'pa' in a failed bid to win a bet with Matthew Boulton that he could build a machine to speak the lord's prayer
RNx6 TIL that we’re on the brink of a global wine shortage, patially because China’s consumption of wine has doubled twice in the last five years.
v1oeD TIL about Sir Upendranath Brahmachari, who saved millions of lives by developing a cure for Kala-Azar in 1920's. He was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize in medicine but is not recognized by the government and the people
OoP5e TIL about a woman who donated her kidney to her boss and was subsequently fired when she took too long to recover after the surgery