› added 5 years ago

216

TIL about the 'cyber seat', the world's first park bench with free internet. It was installed in the UK in 2001 by Microsoft. Within days, two teens had plugged their house phone into it, attempting to call Bill Gates to say 'we are calling you from your bench'. They managed to reach his secretary.

R5wea TIL that Dory from "Finding Nemo" is widely praised for its accurate portrayal of an amnesic syndrome Her depiction of short-term memory loss, difficulty with new information, and frequent forgetfulness is a realistic representation of the struggles faced by individuals with this condition
E1Plp TIL of Wait Calculation, a dilemma stating that during the millennia long trip to another star system, humanity would easily find ways to increase travel speed greatly, meaning any new expeditions would arrive much earlier. Therefore, no-one would risk wasting their lives on such a meaningless trip.
awEy0 TIL When legendary artist Salvador Dali went to a screening of a new surrealist art film in 1936 he became enraged and knocked over the projector half thru claiming the film maker had stolen the idea for the film from Dali's mind. He yelled: "He stole it from my subconscious!"
VMrdQ TIL that Francisco Macías Nguema, the first President of Equatorial Guinea, was paranoid of educated people, because he had failed the entrance exams to the colonial civil service three times - so he killed everyone who wore glasses, which he saw as a sure sign of superior educational accomplishment
9rn6 TIL that criminal profilers have never been proven to be effective, in fact, tests show that “experts” achieve no more success than laymen.