› added 4 years ago

95

TIL that the phone system's three rising tones (Special Information Tone, or SIT) comes in 8 varieties that are similar but can be distinguished by electronic equipment. It was designed so equipment could identify the error, even without understanding the spoken message.

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x7OD TIL that if you take the Myers-Briggs personality test twice, five weeks apart, there’s a 50% chance you’ll fall into a different personality category the second time.
rXVw TIL In English, adjectives go in this order: Opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose-noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife.
xX5k TIL Philip of Macedon sent a message to Sparta saying, “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army on your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city.” Sparta replied “If”. Neither Philip nor Alexander the Great ever attacked Sparta
LR7p TIL in 1982 Key West seceded from the US as a protest against their actions. Then they declared war and surrendered after 1 minute, but in 1995 they attacked the US by firing water cannons from fireboats and hitting people with stale Cuban bread. They are today known as the “Conch Republic.”
GYWlJ TIL Disney does not own the rights to show "big" Marvel characters (Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, etc) in theme parks east of the Mississippi, due to a contract Marvel signed with Universal Studios in the 90s