› added 3 years ago

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TIL that when Truman told Stalin about the Manhattan project in July of 1945, Stalin displayed little reaction, since Stalin had known about the project for almost 4 years before Truman, and he arguably knew more about it than Truman himself did.

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781NZ TIL the World's first Tarmac road is Radcliffe Road in UK, that was transformed into a tarmac road by pioneering inventor Edgar Hooley in 1902. Before then, roads were made of Macadam, compacted stone that puctured the wheels of the first motor vehicles.
a8xlJ TIL Palmyra Atoll is the only U.S territory that is subject to all Constitutional provisions even if it has no inhabitants. If a foreigner gave birth on the atoll, that child would be an American citizen.
5R9k TIL that Kevin Smith’s Clerks (1994) was filmed in black and white because of budgetary limitations, and not for any artistic purposes or expression.
d8Gb9 TIL Roman Emperor Valerian was captured in battle by Persian Emperor Shapur I and what happened after is unknown. Stories include being a slave and footstool, being forced to swallow molten gold, being flayed and his skin taken as a prize, and building Caesar's Dam near Susa before being released.
4MO5 TIL - Europeans didn’t know Marco Polo’s “Cathay” was really China or that the city “Cambulac” was really Beijing, until 1598 when Jesuit priests in Beijing talked to Arab merchants there, who still called it Cambulac. Maps until the 17th century showed China and Cathay as 2 different empires.