› added 2 months ago

15

TIL that the first recorded use of the term "computer" referred to a person, not a machine. In the 17th century, "computers" were people who performed calculations by hand.

Read more cacm.acm.org

via reddit.com

9BVD TIL Bethesda Softworks was actually offered to make an official open world Game of Thrones game in 2011, but turned it down in order to make Skyrim.
78MjX TIL that a scientist in the Ottoman Empire made an unpowered flight across the Bosphorus strait by jumping off the Galata tower. The Sultan then gave him a bag of gold and exiled him to Algeria.
g477 TIL there are currently 4,256 satellites currently orbiting the planet as of 2016, but only 1,419 are operational
9wZBp TIL the notion of waiting 30 mintues after eating before swimming has no scientific basis whatsoever
7rOkP TIL one of Nirvana's most controversial performances was in 1993 at the Hollywood Rock Festival in São Paulo, after playing rough versions of their songs, they swapped instruments to play a set of badly rehearsed covers while they were booed by the audience and ended the show by demolishing the gear