› added 10 years ago

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TIL that gunpowder was discovered by Taoist alchemists who were searching for an elixir of immortality

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oBO4A TIL that the Rosetta Stone, the key to deciphering Ancient Egyptian, was found in 1799 during the French military expedition to Egypt, by a French Army engineer captain named Pierre-Francois Bouchard. Bouchard had been part of a unit tasked with restoring an old fort, where he spotted the slab.
46gw TIL that there has always been exactly 425 licensed gondoliers in Venice, and up until 2010 not a single one was a woman.
6r0W TIL of the Steller’s sea cow. At up to thirty feet long, it was one of the largest mammals to have ever lived. It was famous among sailors because its meat was delicious and lasted for months without spoiling. Within twenty seven years of its discovery, it was hunted to extinction.
b69p7 TIL President Rutherford B. Hayes remembered in the US mostly for being the first president to lose the popular vote and win the electoral vote, is remembered very fondly in Paraguay for his help in settling a territorial dispute that ensured "its survival as a country"
gmLA TIL A man broke out of prison and turned himself in because it was too cold outside.