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TIL that the first novel featuring time travel was written in 1733. It is set 1997 and tells of a future where the world becomes dominated by the Jesuits. Because it was written before the industrial revolution, there is no depicted technological advancement between the author's time and the future

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6ADY TIL that at it’s height the First Persian Empire contained about 44% of the world’s population (about 50 million people), making it the largest empire in history by population percentage
J1a1m TIL as a research student, Lawrence Bragg figured out how to use X-ray to study the atomic structure. His breakthrough discovery earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics at age 25.
0weA1 TIL that cosmic dust, micro-meteor remnants from the birth of our solar system, falls all over the world at a rate of 4,000 tons annually. We literally eat it, inhale it and live in it every day.
PYP8G TIL that none of the architecture on Euro banknotes is real, as the EU prohibited displaying any national monuments, so to not give greater prominence to one country over another. Hence, for the €5 note, a computer was used to scan multiple European bridges and combine them into one neutral design.
nPbd TIL: After Jesse James’ death in 1882, his mother bought many second hand guns, and would sell them claiming them to have belonged to Jesse, leading many people to believe they owned a gun that had belonged to the infamous outlaw