› added 11 years ago

1067

TIL that the distorted words in CAPTCHAs (the anti-spam feature) are all taken from old books and newspapers. By identifying the words, users are actually helping to transcribe these printed sources to the internet. As a result, the entire New York Times archive is now searchable back to 1850.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

ReE4 TIL While studying late, 1905 Brahmin (priest class) students of Madras (South India) used to tie their hair to a nail in the wall to keep themselves from dosing off.
5YrRB TIL that there is a Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame that was formed in 2013, honoring the greatest fictional athletes of all time. Inductees include Rocky Balboa, Happy Gilmore, Mr. Miyagi, and Benjamin Franklin "Benny the Jet" Rodriguez.
1PrO TIL that the last execution by electric chair in the United States before Furman v. Georgia was done to James D. French whose last words before his death were “How’s this for your headline? ‘French Fries’”.
E1mP TIL that zebra stripes are an evolutionary response to horseflies
no89 TIL Daylight Savings doesn’t actually save electricity. It still exists because it helps the economy.