› added 5 years ago

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TIL: Ancients measured long distances by hiring "bematists." They were trained to count steps while walking between locations and could measure hundreds of miles with 95%+ accuracy. Eratosthenes used one to calculate the circumference of the Earth within 15% in 240 B.C.E.

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9YdgD TIL there was a cat shot for treason in WW1 because it went back and forth between the German and French trenches carrying friendly notes after the Christmas armistice
KO9aJ TIL that the only existing footage of the first plane hitting the tower during 9/11 was only recorded because 2 people wanted to make a documentary on what it was like to be a firefighter in New York City, and when the cameraman heard the plane, he pointed it at the tower, and captured the crash.
v1JYD TIL the clinical term for a runny nose is Rhinorrhea
a8rdo TIL the first email was sent in 1971, almost two decades before the World Wide Web existed
7Q6b TIL that John McCain was born in Panama and not the continental US. How did he run for president? After a bipartisan review and a Senate resolution, it was concluded he was a natural born citizen as at the time Panama was controlled by the US.