In 1917 you could order a belt-fed machine gun from a Sears catalog: “Machine guns are used largely by police organizations, home guards and municipalities in case of riots.”
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history
Humans nearly went extinct, reducing…
Humans nearly went extinct, reducing to a population of only 8,800 which would qualify today as “endangered” before bouncing back.
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Millennials being scrutinized…
Millennials being scrutinized isn’t unique to this generation. Older generations have been doing it to younger generations for over 2,000 years. Similar criticisms include laziness, being self absorbed, spending too much money, expectations being too high, and the use of technology.
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Newly discovered fossils…
Newly discovered fossils show that moths and butterflies have been on the planet for at least 200 million years whereas flowering plants came along around 130 million years ago. Butterflies survived without flowers for 70 million years.
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Roman slaves wore collars of iron with messages…
Roman slaves wore collars of iron with messages like a modern dog collar, for example this one, which reads “I have run away; hold me. When you shall have returned me to my master, Zoninus, you will receive a solidus”
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The idiom “Turning a blind eye” is attributed…
The idiom “Turning a blind eye” is attributed to Admiral Horatio Nelson who, in the midst of battle and given the permission to retreat by his superior, lifted the telescope to his eye (blinded from an earlier injury) and said “I really do not see the signal” and pressed on with the attack.
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In medieval years, an hour was divided into 4…
In medieval years, an hour was divided into 4 puncta (quarter-hours), 10 minuta, or 40 momenta. So if you asked someone to “wait a moment”, turns out that you really asked them to wait for about 90 seconds.
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Knight v Snail
In medieval manuscripts there are many depictions of knights fighting giant snails. There’s no solid reason why.
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In medieval England, the Lord’s Prayer…
In medieval England, the Lord’s Prayer was often used as a measurement of time in medical and culinary books.
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The ancient Chinese used natural gas…
The ancient Chinese used natural gas for lighting purposes around 500 B.C., using bamboo pipelines to transport the gas for miles.
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