› added 1 year ago

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TIL why you call the thing you type with a "keyboard": until 1846 the word exclusively referred to a part of a musical instrument. That year inventor Royal Earl House was issued a patent for a printing telegraph machine fitted with a literal piano keyboard with keys corresponding to letters.

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1oMr TIL in Russia many doctors “treat” alcoholism by surgically implanting a small capsule into their patients. The capsules react so severely with alcohol that once the patient touches a single drop, they instantly acquire an excruciating illness of similar intensity to acute heroin withdrawal
KYogR TIL Guinness spent 4 years developing a new, alcohol-free version of its stout. It is brewed in exactly the same process before alcohol is gently removed using a cold filtration method without causing any thermal stress to the beer
ADK0n TIL when threatened, a Tomato Frog puffs up its body, the frog's skin secretes a thick substance that numbs up the predator's eyes and mouth, causing the predator to release the frog to free up its eyes.
BrVZy TIL that it took E. B. White 17 takes to read the death scene of Charlotte, as he recorded the audio version of his book Charlotte's Web. He is said to have walked outside, come back in, and start crying again when he got to that moment, "a grown man crying over the death of an imaginary insect."
Z8JNQ TIL the large house that Forrest Gump lives in was built entirely for the movie. After filming finished, the house had to be knocked down as it didn't meet building regulations. The drive leading to the house (run Forrest run) is still there and has barely changed.