› added 2 years ago

74

TIL that through much of the history of agriculture, threshing was time-consuming and laborious. Until the late 18th century, before threshing was mechanized, about one-quarter of agricultural labor was devoted to it.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

OoQg6 TIL about Pierre Latreille, a French zoologist who was imprisoned for refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the state. While in prison, he recognized a rare beetle on the cell floor. Latreille's recognition of the beetle ultimately saved both he and one of his cell mates from the guillotine.
10Kr TIL US mothers in the year 2000 put in 30% more hours into childcare than in 1965, even though families today are far smaller, far more moms work, and far more dads help out with childcare. In total about 6x more time and effort is put into the average modern child than one in 1965.
oRJpA TIL about "The American Beetles", a group of Beatles-imposters created an American promoter in 1964. They eventually conned Argentina (who were under the impression that they were the real Beatles) into booking them for several concerts
ne1JG TIL there are robotic stuffed animals made specifically for senior citizens suffering from cognitive impairment and decline. Meant to reproduce many actions and sounds of real animals they provide comfort for those unable to care for real pets much less themselves.
BrB7L TIL that in 1957, 69% of Americans polled by Gallop reported that religion was increasing in influence; by the late 1960s the figure was less than 20%.