› added 2 years ago

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TIL Lego was flirting with bankruptcy, and the release of Bionicle, which accounted for 100% of their profits in 2003, saved them from going under.

neew7 TIL Although Aloha Airlines FL243 suffered an explosive decompression which tore off the top half of the plane’s skin & threw out 1 crew member midair, the captain—who saw “blue sky where the first-class ceiling had been” thru the missing cockpit door—was able to land with all 90 passengers alive
6EBgZ TIL that the "razor" in Ockham's razor refers to distinguishing between two hypotheses either by "shaving away" unnecessary assumptions or cutting apart two similar conclusions. This means a solution with the fewest assumptions, not the simplest answer, is usually correct.
x7wk TIL: The astronomer Guillaume Le Gentil failed to measure the transit of Venus in 1761, waited 8 years in Africa to try again, failed because of bad weather, and then came home to find that his relatives had declared him dead and plundered his estate.
YjLd TIL Police in Clearwater, FL received 161 calls to 911 from the rooms of the Fort Harrison Hotel within a span of 11 months. Each time, Scientology security denied them entry, insisting there was no emergency.
5VyLR TIl That Burma Dictator Ne Win announced the demonetisation of the 25, 35, and 75 kyat notes, leaving only the 1, 5, and 10 kyat bills valid and replaced them with 45 and 90 bills, wiping out 60-80% of legal tender and peoples savings.