› added 8 years ago

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TIL that smartphones are capable of receiving FM radio signals, but phone/wireless companies deny that consumer demand is strong enough to justify activating it

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rN5N4 TIL The word “ham” (as in HAM Radio) is not an acronym. In the early days of telegraphy & radio comms, professional operators would refer to amateur operators as “hams”, implying their incompetence. The slur was eventually forgotten and the amateur radio community widely adopted the term “HAM Radio”
wj8E TIL the Pentagon has twice as many toilets than it would have had if it were built today, due to being built in a time of segregation
e07lb TIL Researchers found that beards were only more attractive if they were uncommon. In a study, if researchers showed a single bearded man amongst many shaved men, the bearded person was ranked as more attractive. If shown amongst other bearded men, it lost its benefit.
VB1xG TIL bodies of victims from Pompeii's Vesuvius eruption didn't turn to stone. Rather, their bodies were enveloped in debris which hardened. The bodies decayed, leaving hollow cavities. During the first excavations, these cavities were filled with a plaster-like material, creating detailed replicas.
Elax TIL the CIA spent millions of dollars installing spy equipment inside the body of a cat only to have it run over by a car on its first test mission.