› added 4 months ago

19

TIL: Medieval feasts generally had no forks and guests uses their hands a knife to eat. Retainers would bring fresh bowls of water and towels. Dishes were made for pairs and the lesser of the two did cutting. Children also drank beer weak in alcohol content as water was less clean than beer.

REpj TIL that Lee Harvey Oswald defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, only to return in 1962. 18 months later he would assassinate John F. Kennedy.
LQjmV TIL that Galileo’s telescope wasn’t strong enough to tell what Saturn’s rings were, so he thought it was a larger central planet closely flanked by two smaller ones. He described the rings as Saturn’s “ears.”
WkLA TIL that the Cherokee were in a process of voluntary adoption of American culture, private property, agriculture and even developed a writing system and drafted a constitution inspired by the US. They fought side by side with Andrew Jackson who would later sign the Indian Removal Act
Y7Wxv TIL that Benjamin Franklin’s sharp lightning rods sparked political debates. He argued they were more effective, while King George III preferred blunt ones. The colonies’ adoption of Franklin’s design symbolized a scientific choice and a subtle rebellion against the King's preferences.
vPmlr TIL a young Vietnamese woman named Phan Thi Mao was kidnapped and repeatedly abused by US soldiers in 1966, only one of the men decided to report the situation, all of the responsible people were convicted but eventually acquitted, this event later became known as the “incident on Hill 192”