› added 4 years ago

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TIL King Ludwig II was a huge fan of Richard Wagner. He even threatened to abdicate and follow him when political pressure forced him to exile Wagner from München.

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9YrWB TIL that Sunflowers are used to assist in clean up after a nuclear disaster. They are known as hyperaccumulators because they are capable of absorbing toxic heavy metals from the ground and have been planted at both Chernobyl and Fukushima to aid in soil restoration.
6Ew8m Today I Learned that Roman doctors used to drink their patients urine in order to diagnose disease, such as diabetes.
4XJab TIL George Clooney is one of the closest living relatives of Abraham Lincoln.
Lk0g9 TIL that archeologists have found several iron tools, weapons and cultural objects dating thousands of years before the advent of the Iron age. These objects were held in high regard for their qualities and were made by cold forging iron obtained by fallen meteors.
WkWl8 TIL Despite being land locked countries, a Czech-Austrian inventor was the first to use a screw type propeller to power a ship. His ship, Civetta of 48 gross register tons, reached a speed of about 6 knots (11 km/h). This was the first ship successfully driven by an Archimedes screw-type propeller.