› added 9 years ago

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TIL during the First Opium War of 1839, 19,000 British troops fought against 200,000 Chinese. The Chinese had 20,000 casualties, the British just 69. The war marked the start of the “Century of Humiliation” in China.

PN0E TIL there’s a shrine in Bangkok to a naughty old beggar. After one man prayed at the shrine and won the lottery, he rewarded the beggar with a troupe of sexy dancers. Now people regularly bring dancers to the shrine to seek good fortune (with video)
0wgXA TIL Ants manage large-scale infrastructure projects with no coordination at all. Each ant acts alone, solving problems such as removing obstructions as they are encountered. Research points to the simple, evolutionary energy-saving principle of: "If you do not need to communicate, don't!"
VMDrD TIL that the release of Rise of the Skywalker on Disney+ was set to Star Wars Day (May 4th) in most places, but it was delayed by one day in the Netherlands. May 4th is the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi forces in their country, and it is their equivalent of Remembrance Day or Memorial Day.
R7Klj TIL Casio was widely accused of false advertising after launching an ad where a hockey player used a g shock as a puck to demonstrate its toughness. However once a TV news channel replicated and verified the ads authenticity it gained popularity amongst the general public.
7Q1x TIL Steve Jobs was hired to build the first prototype of “Breakout” for Atari. He enlisted the help of Steve Wozniak promising to give him half of the $750 pay. The pair stayed up four days straight to finish the game and were given a bonus because of this. Jobs kept the entire bonus for himself.