› added 10 years ago

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TIL Your reality is 15 seconds in the making: When you really focus your attention on something, you’re said to be “in the present moment.” But research suggests that the “present moment” is actually a chunk of the recent past, and it’s about 15 seconds long.

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XEAj8 TIL the first computer of any description to sell one million units, the VIC-20, was put together by a team of 5 people at Commodore, who used to stay back late and steal equipment to do the development work because no one else in the company would cooperate with them.
PYK5n TIL Disney heiress Abigail Disney became very uncomfortable with her family wealth when she found herself sitting alone on a private 737 jet. She started giving away money at age 21 and once even considered giving it all away, which was embarassing for her parents
v1oW4 TIL Elizebeth Friedman was a codebreaker whose work helped indict Al Capone during Prohibition. She lead a team in WWII that broke a Nazi spy ring, convincing Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile to leave the Axis and join the Allies. The FBI undermined her, took credit, and tried to erase her from history
QJQxE TIL Neil Armstrong always insisted he said, "That's one small step for a man" when he landed on the moon.
wL6gJ TIL that South America was once inhabited by giant sloths (Megatherium). It weighed up to 4 tonnes (similar to a present day elephant) and on its hind legs it would have stood 3.5m (12ft), which make it the largest bipedal mammal of all time. It lived from ca 400'000 ago until ca 8'000 ago.