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TIL Issac Newton stuck a sewing needle under his eyeball, pushed it all the way to the back of his skull, and wiggled it around to test his theory of optics.

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l7B4r TIL that we have an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust called Zealandia. Today,94% of the landmass remains submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand is the largest part of Zealandia that is above sea level, followed by New Caledonia.
d9vr TIL that as part of the British Royal Navy’s ‘Last Resort Letters’, in the event of a catastrophe submarine commanders will verify annihilation of civilised society in Great Britain by checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting.
jNXkR TIL prior to the flu pandemic (1918) being reported in St. Louis, Dr. Max Starkloff had local physicians on high alert and wrote about the importance of avoiding crowds. As health commissioner he closed schools, theaters, and prohibited public gatherings. The city had the lowest U.S. mortality rate.
6EVal TIL that the text in ReCAPTCHA security codes looks so strange because they're actually helping to digitize books and other text. The company has designed their system so that humans enter the words optical character recognition software can't recognize. Their old slogan was "Stop spam, read books."
Q6ld TIL US Representative Cassius Clay survived an assassination attempt, was shot in the chest, killed his attempted murderer with a bowie knife, threw him over an embankment, and continued the debate he was having