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TIL that a UK man found a way to earn money off telemarketers who were constantly calling him. In 2011 he set up his own personal 0871 line - so to call him now costs money to the caller. Every time a bank, gas or electricity supplier asked him for his details, he submits it as his contact number.

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via reddit.com

oRBv8 TIL in the 1990s, the New Jersey Nets asked the NBA to change their name to the Swamp Dragons. The league spent $500,000 to protect the name. The NBA owners voted 26-1 to approve the change. The Nets were the lone no vote, who changed their mind, infuriating then commissioner David Stern.
EgJVo TIL the term “hipster,” in fact, drew from the Chinese opium smoker of the 1800s, who’d spent much of his time smoking while reclining on one hip. The hipster counterculture took inspiration from heroin-addicted jazz greats like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane.”
OGLdY TIL Chinese Prime Minister Wellington Koo earned multiple degrees from Columbia in New York. Koo's 1912 PhD thesis was "The Status of Aliens in China" and Columbia has a fellowship bearing his name to doctoral students in social science focused on East Asia
JAy4 TIL that in the “Towelie” episode of South Park, the game system was changed from a Playstation 2 to the Okama Gamesphere due to copyright. In Japan, Okama is a slur for gay men.
R7bZl TIL one of the last wishes of Terry Pratchet, author of the Discworld Universe, was to have all his unfinished works crushed by a steamroller. The author’s wishes were fulfilled in 2015 when he passed from Alzheimer’s and the reason for it was so his work wasn’t mishandled after his death.