› added 1 year ago

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TIL about the Phantom Time Hypothesis, a conspiracy that suggests that the AD dating system was fabricated to place Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, Pope Sylvester II, and Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII at 1000 AD. According to this, the years AD 614 - 911 (the early Middle Ages) never happened.

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9mKr TIL that Leonardo da Vinci invented the Miter Lock in 1497, which is still in use today including in the Panama and Suez Canals.
mvLP TIL that the world’s population reached 1 billion in 1804 and took 123 years to increase to 2 billion. The increase from 2 to 3 billion, however, lasted only 33 years, and 3 to 4 billion took 14 years.
b9xg4 TIL It is a common misconception that we lose most heat from our heads. If you immerse your head in cold water, it adds around 10% to overall heat loss. This is not excessive given that the head accounts for 7-9% of the body's surface area.
RGg9 TIL a woman was diagnosed HIV+, despite her husband and exes all testing HIV-. Convinced her spouse(a doctor) infected her via a “vitamin shot”, she had detectives examine his clinic’s records. 1 HIV+ blood sample was missing. That patient’s HIV strain was ~identical to hers, convicting the husband.
dDkO8 TIL about Robert Rayford who's believed to have died from AIDS in 1969. He checked himself into the hospital and was found to have an unusually severe form of chlamydia as well as Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining illness, and a dysfunctional immune system. AIDS wasn't identified until 1981.