› added 11 years ago

94

TIL that the term “debugging” actually originated, and was popularized by Grace Hopper when her associates discovered and removed an actual moth that was stuck inside a relay of the Harvard Mark II, impeding its performance.

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mxDwP TIL that in 1923 Goodyear Tire created a subsidiary known as the Goodyear Zeppelin Company to manufacture airships, and between 1923 and 1995 it made over three hundred zeppelins.
oRKdY TIL most of the people who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire of 1911 were girls/women aged 14-23. In addition, the doors were locked (preventing escape), a common practice of the time to reduce theft and breaks by workers. Many women people jumped out of the 8/9/10th floors
VVpG TIL Bill Murray hated working on Groundhog Day and wouldn’t return calls. When the crew convinced him to get a PA, he hired a deaf mute who only knew sign language - which no one else knew, including Bill Murray
d87jZ TIL that gorillas and other primates build nests. They construct nests for day and night use. Day nests tend to be simple aggregations of branches and leaves on the ground, while night nests are more elaborate constructions usually on the ground but sometimes on trees too.
evR5 TIL in 1992, a team of game developers used a white puffball as a placeholder graphic while they designed their game’s protagonist. They grew fond of the puffball, and decided to keep him rather than replace him with a real character. He became the iconic character Kirby.