› added 12 years ago

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TIL That former Reddit co-owner Aaron Swartz persistently hacked into JSTOR, an on-line archive of academic journals, to open access to the public. His endeavors included hard-wiring himself into the MIT network to assign himself 2 ip addresses.

Read more arstechnica.com

via reddit.com

5eMr TIL that the extinct american cheetah could be the reason pronghorns run so fast today
aay9 TIL that the world’s first programmers were women, a fact that took 50 years to be recognised.
YpyVZ TIL About the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi , planted in 288 BCE, is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date. It has been protected since its planting mainly due to its religious significance in Buddhism.
rRBDw TIL: A Belgian priest named Georges Lemaître was the first to suggest the big bang theory as the origin of creation in the 1920s, when he theorized that the universe began from a single primordial atom.
neAjr TIL about metal coffins in the 1800’s that had a window so you could see the deceased’s face. Used mainly to deter grave robbers and endorsed by a President.