› added 8 years ago

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TIL in 1994 a man named Tony Cicoria was struck by lightening while standing next to a public telephone, and resuscitated by a nurse who was waiting to use the phone. Not long after recovery he said his head became flooded with music. He bought a piano and is now a successful composer and performer.

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graZA TIL that a group of debt collecters in Erie, PA posed as sheriff deputies and create a fake courtroom to scare people into paying debts.
vdJB TIL that the hacker Kevin Mitnick was kept in solitary confinement for 8 months because “law enforcement told the judge that he could somehow dial into the NORAD modem via a payphone from prison and communicate with the modem by whistling to launch nuclear missiles.”
RKw4 TIL that in 2012, researchers found that people who watch Fox News were less informed than people who didn’t watch news at all
ADogB TIL of 'holdout houses' - old properties that hold out against new development. One such occupied 'million dollar corner' at Macy's in New York. Another example is Edith Macefield's house in Seattle, whose owner famously turned down an offer of $1M. She willed it to the construction superintendent.
P1JVO TIL about Australia's "democracy sausages" - grilled sausages served outside many Australian polling places during elections that serve as fundraisers for community groups.