› added 11 years ago

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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.

ADKew TIL Freddie Blassie, a heel wrestler in the 60's, claimed to have caused heart attacks among tv viewers in Japan due to his gimmick of biting his opponents and drawing blood. Blassie boasted "In my whole career, 92 people dropped dead of heart attacks. My ambition was to kill 100, and I failed,”
M7BjV TIL about the 1937 marriage of 22-year-old Charlie Johns and 9-year-old Eunice Winstead, causing national attention after an article was written in Life magazine. It led to the state of Tennessee introducing a new law setting the minimum marriage age as 14. Other US jurisdictions followed similarly.
j6eYp TIL about Angus MacCaskill. Guinness Book of World Records stated he was the strongest man who ever lived, tallest non-pathological giant in recorded history, largest true giant to ever have lived, and the man with the largest chest measurements of any non-obese man.
ANlaa TIL about Susanna M. Brandt who was drugged/raped, gave birth as a consequence, then killed the child. During her court case the poet Goethe and his family spent time trying to help her case; though ultimately executed by beheading with a sword. Goethe's 'Faust' was partially influenced by her.
dnJB TIL the streets in Northeast Minneapolis were named after the U.S. presidents in order of their election to help new residents from Poland, Ukraine, Lebanon and Germany prepare for citizenship exams.