› added 5 years ago

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TIL: The codename for Direct X was "Project Manhattan" in order to showcase the effort from Microsoft to displace the Japanese gaming industry at the time.

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dDYV9 TIL that the first wind turbine was introduced in 1887 by a Scot called James Blyth. He offered to power the street lights of the village of Marykirk, near Aberdeen, using his 33ft turbine – the villagers refused and called it “the work of the devil.”
Y7Mmv TIL of the jockey Frank Hayes. Never previously winning a race before, he is the only known jockey to have died mid race remaining on the horse and winning.
wo8aM TIL: Garbage trucks in Taiwan use Für Elise to let people know that the garbage pickup is happening, in kind of the same way ice cream trucks use tunes in the U.S. to get people to line up for frozen dessert.
69y8J TIL that a blind amateur historian's attempt to publish a history of the Ming Dynasty in 1660 was received so poorly that over 70 people involved were executed and thousands of people arrested.
kKpg TIL that total milk intake dropped by nearly half when chocolate milk removed from school program