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TIL there were electric cab companies in the 19th century.

by whatilearned July 2, 2022, 9:58 am

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TIL the word “jumbo” comes from the name of a famous giant elephant in P.T. Barnum’s touring 19th century circus. Jumbo was killed by a train at age 24, supposedly while saving the life of Tom Thumb, a younger elephant.

by whatilearned June 29, 2022, 2:11 am

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TIL it was theorized through the 19th century that the Arctic Ocean got warmer as it got closer to the North Pole. The “Open Polar Sea” could provide trade routes through an equator-like temperate climate to Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It was disproven by dozens of failed expeditions.

by whatilearned June 22, 2022, 6:21 pm

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TIL about “Bonin English” — a dialect that is an English/Japanese fusion, spoken on the Ogasawara Islands. Previously uninhabited, the islands’ first modern inhabitants were anglophones in the 19th century. The islands went back and forth between the UK, US, and Japan. Today, they are part of Japan.

by whatilearned June 12, 2022, 6:26 am

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TIL that in the 19th century people formed Fat Mens Clubs that celebrated overeating and being obese

by whatilearned June 6, 2022, 2:55 pm

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Location, date, and time of speech that convinced MLK of the methods of nonviolence, revealed. The speech took place at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia on November 19th, 1950 at 3:45 pm. The Church’s application to place it on the National Historic Registry will be heard on June, 7th.

by HistoryBuff June 2, 2022, 8:58 pm

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TIL that the central portion of the Jewish bar mitzvah ceremony, reading from the Torah scroll, dates back only to the 18th and 19th century, although the ceremony has ancient roots and the first use of the term was in the 15th century

by whatilearned June 1, 2022, 6:44 pm

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TIL Malta has two official languages: Maltese and English. Maltese is the national language. Until 1934, Italian was also an official language in Malta, but in the 19th and 20th centuries debate known as the Language Question disputed the need for three.

by whatilearned May 29, 2022, 11:12 am

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Death by Arsenic A brief history of women, poison, and murder in 19th century Britain

by HistoryBuff May 27, 2022, 3:40 am

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TIL of Thomas Chapple, a 19th century sailor, who is believed to have contributed to the near-extinction of two species after lighting a fire as a prank.

by whatilearned May 24, 2022, 2:19 am

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TIL Into the 19th century Paris was characterized by tight winding streets and small thin buildings that Voltaire said were suitable for Goths. Under Napoleon III the city had massive renovations that widened the streets and created large apartment buildings.

by whatilearned May 14, 2022, 11:21 am

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TIL one of London’s hidden rivers runs over a tube station, Sloane Square, held inside an iron conduit built in the 19th century.

by whatilearned April 30, 2022, 9:59 am

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