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TIL about "Man Engines" which were moving ladders that constantly moved up and down about 10 feet and used to move miners from 1000 ft deep mine shafts by stepping on and off the ladder step at the top of the up stroke, then stepping onto the next step on the down stroke (animation in link)

4k1xg Til that the 6th century Architect Anthemius persecuted his neighbour and rival Zenon by reflecting sunlight into Zenon's house and by faking earthquakes there with underground steam pipes.
5VdG8 TIL that Smash Mouth's "I'm A Believer" only hit #25 on the Hot 100, and "Walkin' On The Sun" was ineligible as it was never released as a physical single in the US. Their biggest hit after "All Star" was the #11 hit "Then The Morning Comes".
165nX TIL that, when Cleopatra VII. Philpator (the one we know from Shakespeare/Asterix) was born in 69 b.c., her greek family, the Ptolemies, had already been ruling Egypt for 236 years since 305 b.c., and been there since the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c. or his death in 323 b.c.
78dQM TIL that after the success of NWA, the Bloods & Crips formed their own eponymous rap group. Auditions were held with real gang members, who were envious of NWA's success in popularizing "gangsta rap". The gangs ended their collaboration after releasing two albums.
xBA5 TIL that the Czech Republic, consistently ranked among the Top 10 safest countries on earth, has virtually ‘USA levels’ of firearm permissiveness and has never had a school shooting.