› added 4 months ago

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TIL that Margaret Atwood based The Handmaid’s Tale entirely on real historical events with every element of oppression in the book having already happened somewhere

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via reddit.com

mxNGE TIL that Philips, Osram and GE conspired together to reduce the lifetime of the light bulb (Planned Obsolescence)
ADkw TIL that in 2000 many of the 5,500 Sacagawea coins that Cheerios put in their boxes as a special promotion were struck with slightly more detail. These coins have sold between $5,000 and $25,000.
OGk16 TIL that the new controls for the periscope in the class of most advanced nuclear attack submarine ever, the Navy used what it calls COTS (Civilian Off The Shelf) technology… in this case, an Xbox 360 controller.
R7lL4 TIL several women have suffered miscarriages at work due to the harsh conditions in warehouses owned by XPO, the company that ships for Verizon, Nike, and Disney, among others.
ZpPZY TIL that the fish California grunion lay eggs on sandy beach where they hatch after a fortnight. Grunion runs are graded from 1-5, depending on the number of fish that arrive, the length of the run and how long they mate for. It's impossible to walk on a beach with W5 run without stepping on fish.