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232

TIL that the Romans had all the necessary mechanical devices to build a steam engine

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WkXM4 TIL Thomas Jefferson spoke English, French, Latin, could read Greek and Spanish, studied and wrote on Old English, and studied other languages including German, Arabic, Irish, and Welsh.
VMgwG TIL that Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, keeps over 200,000 bees in his backyard, which he calls "Flea's Bees"
mxBrO TIL 50 new shades of colours were created for the anime film Akira. This is due to the fact most of the movie takes place at night, which was a setting animators commonly avoided due to increased color requirements. In total there are 327 shades in the movie
moxx TIL of Exercise Tiger, a preparation exercise resulting in more casualties than the actual Utah landing at Normandy months later. A terrible disaster, a complete information blackout was ordered
p8884 TIL that making a purple pigment used to dye clothes for royalty in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome involved harvesting the pigment from rotting snails. The stench was so bad that Jewish law specifically granted women the right to divorce any husband who became a dyer after marrying.