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TIL about Twilight sleep, a procedure used for labor in the early 1900s. Women were drugged, restrained in a dark room with gauze on their eyes and ears plugged. The purpose of the drugs was to cause the women to forget the childbirth, not prevent pain, as they were still conscience the whole time.

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4XGoJ TIL early sections of San Francisco were built upon ships abandoned by prospectors during the California Gold Rush. Many were intentionally run aground to become bars and hotels. Now, hundreds of wooden ships lay beneath the city streets and a portion of their subway goes through the hull of one.
9wJ0M TIL Alyssa Milano had multiple hit records in Japan during the late 80s/early 90s, one of which was certified platinum.
kl0W TIL That Alexander Graham Bell (the inventor of the telephone) was named honorary chief by the Mohawk Native Americans because of his work in translating and documenting their language. He participated in tribal dances while wearing native ceremonial clothing.
BgMKk TIL The first written record of rabies is in the Mesopotamian Codex of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BC), which dictates that the owner of a dog showing symptoms of rabies should take preventive measures against bites. If another person were bitten by a rabid dog and later died, the owner was heavily fined.
4k14N TIL about the Chinese emperor Jie of Xia. He is regarded as a tyrant, who lived a lavish lifestyle with slaves and treated his people with extreme cruelty. It was even said that while he would drink wine, it was required that he ride on someone’s back like a horse.