› added 4 years ago

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TIL Charles Darwin's captain of the HMS Beagle, Robert FitzRoy, invented the first scientific weather forecasts and weather forecasting service. While often correct and immensely popular, the inaccuracy of his predictions and subsequent criticisms contributed to his depression and eventual suicide.

XEgLr TIL that up until 2016, there was a pool in the middle of nowhere out in the Mojave desert that anybody could go to.
9w0p6 TIL that from 2016 to 2023, John Deere's End User Agreement prohibited non-authorized technicians from servicing any component or system that had embedded software. Farmers could not repair their own equipment nor get third-party repair services.
9YPND TIL Jim Becker, a Packers fan hall-of-famer, routinely sold his blood to buy season tickets, which inadvertently saved his life when he was found to have Hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that leads to toxic iron deposition in the body, and an early death. The only treatment is bloodletting.
KlD4 TIL that NYC’s water supply comes from two tunnels that have not been shut down for maintenance since 1917 and 1935. A third tunnel, being built to shut the other two down for repairs, has been under construction since 1970 and isn’t expected to be finished until 2020.
GYV9G TIL that Sir George Everest, after whom Mount Everest was named, objected to the honor, as he had nothing to do with the mountain's discovery and he had the impression his name was not easily written or pronounced in Hindi.