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TIL Until 1980, users of chess computers had to move the computer’s pieces by hand. The 1982 Novag Robot Adversary used a robotic arm to move pieces but only 2500 units were produced due to high failure rates

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x0Zw TIL that Bob Lambert, an undercover cop, married and fathered a child with an animal rights activist in order to infiltrate the animal rights movement despite being already married and having a child.
x0G7 TIL the Window of the World theme park in China has a cremation simulator. Visitors climb into coffins & are carried on a conveyor belt with heat & light projections simulating the effects of a real funeral-home incinerator. It hopes to enlighten people on death & help them make better life choices.
16QWX TIL birds in Australia, known as “fire hawks”, are known to utilize and spread fires in order to flush out prey.
kODvB TIL the Woodingdean Well was dug by hand between 1858 and 1862 and reached a depth of 1285 feet - deeper than the top floor on the Empire State Building is high. Its bottom was 850 ft below sea level.
dPO8 TIL in 1986 a Kansas sheriff rented a camera and VCR from his local video store, filming a 90 minute sex tape with his wife. Upon returning the equipment, he inadvertently left the tape inside the VCR. Soon enough, his whole town had watched and passed around copies of “The Sheriff Rides Again”