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TIL there used to be “party lines” for telephones, the entire neighborhood was linked to a single phone line and they had to take turns using the phone. You could listen in to your neighbors’ calls, or interrupt them telling them to get off the phone because they talk too much and you need to use it

ynk8 TIL after the 2012 earthquake in Italy damaged €110,000,000 worth of Parmigiano cheese, world-renowned chef Massimo Bottura spread the word on social media how to easily make Risotto. As a result, almost all the cheese was utilized and the company didn’t have to lay off a single employee.
W7eDN TIL of the World calendar, a proposed reform of the Gregorian system that keeps the calendar more in sync with the seasons. It is 364 days long, divided into quarters (91 days each), with an extra day (Worldsday) at the end of the year, and a leap day (Leapyear Day) added every four years.
b69ZN TIL that some of Kurt Cobain's favorite albums varied from bizarre albums like The Shaggs' Philosophy Of The World, to underground experimental rock like the Young God EP by Swans, to endearing outsider music like Yip/Jump Music by Daniel Johnston(RIP)
WkLQA TIL Janusz Korczak was a man who accompanied 192 orphans to a concentration camp, refusing to save himself, while cheering and entertaining the children. He boarded the trains with them and was never heard from again.
wRPP TIL Alexander II, Emperor of Russia sold Alaska to the USA fearing it will fall to British hands.