› added 1 year ago

206

TIL in addition to the legendary last stand of Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, many significant battles were fought at Thermopalyae. The most recent being a clash between ANZAC Forces & Germany during WW2. Today, the hallowed field is a quick stop off a major highway in Greece.

Read more youtu.be

via reddit.com

d8Z5E TIL that modern computing can be traced back to fabric making on looms in the early 1800's. Punchcards were used to programmatically weave patterns. Named after their founder, Jacquard Loom cards helped inspire Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and early IBM computing.
7XaZ TIL the human brain doesn’t perceive total blackness when there is no light present; it instead perceives Eigengrau, a shade of dark gray, because contrast is more important to the visual system than absolute brightness
1aRLP TIL that when the VCR was invented, film companies tried to make it illegal due to the possibility of recording copyrighted material, in a case which reached the Supreme Court. The head of the MPAA compared the effect of the VCR on television to that of the Boston Strangler on women.
j6dKp TIL Fredric Wertham's 'Seduction of the Innocent' in 1954 criticized Batman comics for alleged homosexual tones. This led to a 'sunnier Batman' era , with characters like Batwoman and Batgirl introduced to counter the claims about Batman and Robin being gay.
grr69 TIL that the symbols used in comics as a substitution for profanity or other vulgar language are called "grawlixes," a term coined by Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker.