› added 8 months ago

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TIL about the Teleseme, a signaling device with a dial that luxury hotel guests would use to demand over 100 services including ordering cocktails or manservants. These devices faded out of service by the 1910s as hotels started implementing telephone systems.

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QJ4AX TIL about Farbs, a derogatory name for less-than-authentic Civil War reenactors who half-ass their look and cosplay. Farbs use sunblock and bugspray, take their iPhones into battle, and tend to be overweight (historically inaccurate for the 1860s).
dDwKd TIL after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS West Virginia battleship was salvaged six months later. During the salvage operation, a calendar was discovered in an airtight room indicating three sailors survived for another 16 days after the event.
Jpo8 TIL in 1964, riots broke out in North Philadelphia over a false rumor that police beat a pregnant black woman to death. Over 200 businesses were looted or destroyed. Most of those businesses never returned, which lead to much of North Philadelphia turning into the crime-ridden slum we see today.
P1xxZ TIL that for a while in the 2010s, you could rent the country of Liechtenstein on Airbnb for $70,000 a night. This included hanging out with the monarch, temporary currency, the ability to rename streets and a key to country.
ANRml TIL about the Kahina. An Amazigh (Berber) queen who ruled an independent kingdom in what is today Algeria. Caught between the Umayyad and Byzantine Empires, she opted to fight instead and died in battle sometime around 703 AD.