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98

TIL Baghdad possessed the world's largest book collection in the 9th century. By the 10th century, the city had become the largest city in the world surpassing even Constantinople with an estimated population between 1.2 million and 2 million.

9nQQ TIL Russian historians divide empires into “sea” and “land” types: Sea powers tend to be capricious, high tech and mercantile, and land powers tend to be serious, militaristic and large. Examples of this dichotomy include Athens vs. Sparta, Britain Vs. France, Carthage vs Rome, and the US vs. USSR
kDa4 TIL of the Taxil Hoax, where a Frenchman spent 12 years as a Roman Catholic writing anti-Masonic accounts, only to reveal it was a prank on the Church. As he said “…I thought I would kill myself laughing at some of the things proposed, but everything went; there is no limit to human stupidity”
GYr6g TIL Students in China can face up to seven years in prison for cheating on college entrance exams.
6XGZ TIL that by many significant measures, the world really is becoming more peaceful. Over the last decade, total combat deaths, civilian casualties, and worldwide public tolerance for armed violence have been lower than at any other time in the past century.
xRK0 TIL that in 1968, a chemist for the 3M Company attempted to make a super strong adhesive, hoping to compete against Super Glue. Instead, he accidentally created a low-tack, reusable adhesive, which led to the invention of the Post-it note.