› added 4 years ago

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TIL of Seki Takakazu, a mathematician described as "Japan's Newton", who independently discovered many results attributed to his European contemporaries, some of which were rediscovered only centuries later.

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d89nQ TIL that walruses are capable of whisteling
OoY71 TIL in the 1940s, AT&T sued Harry Tuttle for inventing the Hush-A-Phone—a device that silenced phones from eavesdroppers. AT&T argued the “device hadn’t been installed by their company” and the FCC voted in AT&T’s favor, but Tuttle continued to fight the case in open court and eventually won.
Yplor TIL about the "Upside Down Boat Village" in France. Equihen-Plage, a former fishing village on the English Channel with a dry harbor, became a stranded port at the start of the 20th century. Poor families living in the village recovered the boat hulls to build makeshift shelters for themselves.
Z8oD4 TIL Taiwan has an island (Kinmen County) that's only 2 km off the coast of China.
neQ6r TIL: Fanagalo is a language derived from Zulu, English, and Afrikaans. It has no native speakers and was developed for use in the mining industry of South Africa.