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TIL Johannes Hevelius had exceptionally keen eyesight and could see stars of the seventh magnitude. He compiled a "Celestial Atlas" using both instruments, naked eye observations, and observed sunspots to accurately determine the solar rotation

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r8rd TIL that one of the oldest chess strategy books, from 1561, recommends playing with your back to the sun to blind your opponent. If playing at night by a fire, it advises you to cast a shadow over the board with your hand, so your opponent “will not be able to see where to play his pieces.”
nPV9 TIL that Michelin - a company which awards prestigious star ratings to restaurants - go to extraordinary lengths to maintain the anonymity of their restaurant inspectors, even advising them not to tell their parents about their line of work.
xGEb TIL the first goalie mask worn in a NHL game wasn’t until a goalie took a puck to the face, got stitched up, and refused to return to the game unless he could wear a mask.
QJNL TIL That Until the 1800s, Turkish women suspected of cheating were tied in a sack with cats and thrown into the ocean.
xVQvg TIL: Yoko Ono was not ~just~ the wife of The Beatles' famed musician John Lennon. She's also a longtime "conceptual artist" in her own right, sometimes making art like "Mend Piece," which includes these instructions for the viewer: "TAKE YOUR FAVORITE CUP. BREAK IT IN MANY PIECES WITH A HAMMER."