› added 8 years ago

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TIL in 1989 the supreme court ruled that executing the “mentally retarded” was constitutional with a 5-4 vote; it wasn’t until 2002 that the ruling was overturned. (Penry v. Lynaugh)

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OG8YR TIL That the creator of Conan, Robert E Howard, killed himself at age 30, only writing Conan stories for 4 years of his life
WkKn9 TIL that the US Army field tested the use of camels in the American Southwest before the Civil War
nW7vr TIL that Xerox built the first personal computer with a mouse-based graphical user interface (GUI) in 1973, 10 years before anyone else. But they couldn't see any reason why anyone would want a PC so they didn't market it
PnNe TIL Ancient Egyptian families would mourn the death of a family cat by shaving off their eyebrows. The cat was embalmed with a sculpted wooden mask and the tiny mummy was placed in the family tomb or in a pet cemetery with tiny mummies of mice.
jNEwn TIL that transparent aluminum is a real material. It's called Aluminium oxynitride or ALON and has far less weight and thickness than traditional bulletproof glass.