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Today I learned about "The Thing", one of the first covert listening devices (bugs), which was implanted in a Great Seal of the United States gifted from the Soviet Union to the United States and, being entirely passive in nature, remained hidden for 7 years.

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4omN TIL In 1970, Mississippi lawmakers banned “Sesame Street” from being broadcast statewide claiming the integration of the show’s neighborhood was “offensive” to some of the state’s residents.
rNKyW TIL Brian Eno created Ambient music while recovering from an accident. A record was playing too quietly and he was unable to leave his bed to increase the volume. Only just being able to hear the music over the outside rain gave him the idea for music that didn't impose itself on someone's space.
M7kYa TIL of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, ruling between 1081 and 1118. Due to his frequest mutilation and blinding of enemies he was given the epithet "Misophaes" - Hater of Sunlight
BrgDr TIL gender can now be determined from the concentration of amino acids in a fingerprint (levels are significantly higher in the sweat of women than that of men). The testing method can be performed at the crime scene and works in a manner similar to pregnancy strips or glucose meters.
mJQp TIL that in 1951 the managing director of Guinness Breweries became involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe (the golden plover or the grouse). He was unable to confirm the answer using reference books of the time. Shortly after, the Guinness World Records were born.