› added 11 years ago

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TIL Augustin Mouchot, a French math teacher, was a 19th-century inventor of the earliest solar-powered engine. It converted solar energy into mechanical steam power. In 1878 he showcased his solar-powered concentrator at the Exposition Universelle in Paris & took home the gold medal from the fair.

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4kgWa TIL that Baby Doge and Best Friends Animal Society broke the Guinness World Records title for largest donation of pet food in 24 hours by donating 36,750.88 kg of pet food. (BabyDoge is a cryptocurrency and 5% of every transaction goes to donations for dogs)
x6rgB TIL Jerald terHorst was Gerald Ford's press secretary for only month. He resigned after Ford granted Nixon a pardon, which he found especially unconscionable in light of Ford's refusal to pardon draft dodgers during the Vietnam War
E1BZP TIL that the English borough of Dunwich was swallowed by the sea in 1670, but continued to be represented in Parliament until 1832
ADKdd TIL that from time syphilis first emerged, in the 1500s, countries blamed neighboring and sometimes enemy countries for the outbreak; Italy, Germany & the UK called it ‘the French disease’, the French named it ‘the Neapolitan disease’, and there are numerous other instance (Listed here, paragraph 3)
aw5jo TIL the movie "Fifty First Dates" is actually inspired by a true story. Michelle Philpots suffered two auto accidents, and over the following few years developed memory issues which eventually caused her to wake up every morning stuck in 1994 and before.