› added 11 years ago

250

TIL that in 2008, after becoming fed up with people uploading their videos to YouTube, Monty Python started their own channel, uploading HQ versions of their most popular sketches. The move resulted in a 23,000% increase in DVD sales.

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8aE0b TIL that because radio waves travel faster than sound sound waves, if you stand at the base of Big Ben you can hear the chime on the radio before you hear it in real life.
l7n8K TIL that in 1962 there was a bill proposed to change the name of Philippines to Malaysia but the then newly independent neighbouring country took the name before the bill was passed.
awORM TIL that workers on Antarctica are starting to develop an accent. The way the Antarctic “winterers” are together for several months is similar to a colonial settlement: there's no access to/from Antarctica in winter and they're in regular (spoken) contact with each other.
pYynQ TIL about The Pegging Act of 1943 (South Africa) which laid down that Indians should not be granted the right to acquire or own property in the area reserved for the Whites for a period of three years. This was 5 years before the official Apartheid laws were passed.
mx05P TIL in 1518 a "dancing plague" broke out in Strasbourg. Dozens of people started dancing for no apparent reason, some to the point of exhaustion and death. Some historians have attributed the plague to the accidental consumption of a fungus that contains a compound structurally similar to LSD.