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TIL 90 years before the invention of the modern wireless telephone, Alexander Graham Bell invented a device that could transmit speech using sunlight.

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4XEGb TIL cartographers protect their intellectual property by slipping fake streets, or even entire towns, into their maps. If the street/town shows up on another map, they know it was stolen. Dictionary writers have been known to do the same thing with fake words.
4kpDX TIL Margaret Knight (1838-1914) invented a machine to mass produce flat-bottomed paper bags and, after winning a lawsuit against a fraudster who copied her design, the patent was issued in 1871. Her first invention was when she was 12 years old (and began working in a factory). She had 87 patents.
5VBn TIL: honey is more effective at cough suppression than many over the counter cough syrups
Wk1Z4 TIL while recording “I’m Coming Out,” Diana Ross had no idea “coming out” meant one revealing they’re gay. When Ross found out, she went back to the recording studio in tears, thinking songwriter Nile Rodgers tried to ruin her career.
D1Bpe TIL two guys used nothing more that high visibility vests to gain free entry into a movie, a zoo, and a Coldplay concert.