› added 2 months ago

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TIL about ERNIE, a device introduced by the UK government in 1957 to draw premium bond prizes. The original ERNIE used neon tubes and electrons to generate true random numbers and filled up an entire room.

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EX7p TIL: Early in colonization, “Disposable Ships” were a type of craft built for a single voyage, after which they would be disassembled, the wood reused to build actual ships. Some disposables were the largest ships ever built.
914r TIL that potential heirs to the throne of the Ottoman Empire, when born, were kept in a “cage” until they assumed the throne, resulting in many kings to be crazed uneducated madmen.
NlO8 TIL that Costa Rica plans to shut down its zoos and release some animals in captivity and eventually do away with public zoos altogether
QJXvk TIL in Finland, all PhD graduates receive both a top hat and sword with their diploma
9Y0Op TIL About Memphis' Martyrs Park, a city park built around a mass grave of the victims of the city's 1878 yellow fever epidemic and honoring the brave individuals who stayed behind despite great risk to care for the sick and bury the dead.