› added 1 year ago

86

TIL that Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain invented the clasps commonly used on women’s bras

Read more lithub.com

via reddit.com

518n TIL it’s likely Polynesians landed in the Americas before even the vikings. The sweet potato, endemic to Polynesia before European contact, is native to South America. Also, the New Zealand Maori word for sweet potato is kumāra while the South American Aymara word is k'umara.
4kZBR TIL the Third Punic War didn’t technically end until 1985 when the mayors of Rome and Carthage signed a peace treaty for a war which hadn’t been fought in over 2,000 years.
m104y TIL that Cameroon has at least 250 recognised languages, although English and French are the country's two official languages
VMPvm TIL Prehistoric Europeans made clay baby bottles in the shape of cute animals. These bottles have been found in the graves of infants, indicating an importance greater than simply function.
awvAJ TIL the first cup of coffee brewed in England was by an Oxford college student in 1637, who used it stay up all night and study.