› added 1 month ago

4

TIL that voice activated locks that promised to only open if the correct person spoke the correct password into a microphone have been around since 1908

Read more trove.nla.gov.au

via reddit.com

YpoGW TIL that in State v. Linkhaw, the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a man who sang so badly in church that a jury had found him guilty of "disturbing a religious congregation."
b9drj TIL that in ancient Egypt people with Dwarfism were worshipped, because it was believed they had special relationship with certain gods
N7RGP TIL about the "Curse of the 9th." Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner, & Dvorak died after writing their 9th symphony, so Mahler believed the 9th symphony was destined to be a his last. Although afraid to write his 9th, he eventually did & died before being able to complete his 10th fulfilling the curse.
wLVN6 TIL russian luitenant colonel Stanislav Petrov went down in history as the man who single-handedly saved the world from all-out nuclear war when he called out an false allarm when the soviet missile detection system claimed six US nuclear missiles have been launched.
JYV7k TIL the movie Die Hard was based on a book "Nothing Lasts Forever" where the main character is depicted as a disturbed hero from his Second World War fighter pilot days, and it is hinted that if he never got involved, fewer people might have been killed. At the end, he likely dies from his wounds.