› added 10 years ago

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TIL that the “there are people starving in Africa so your suffering is invalid” argument has a name: Fallacy of relative privation

xVaA0 TIL That to keep demand high across generations, Disney Studios carefully restrict the supply of some home release classics. They are locked away in the ‘vault' for 8-10 years before being released for a short unspecified time.
E14a7 TIL Joesph Bramah stared a lock company that was famed for their resistance to lock picking. The company had a “Challenge Lock” where they would pay whoever could pick the lock 200 guineas. The challenge stood for 67 years until Alfred Hobbs finally picked it in 51 hours, spread over 16 days.
l7arr TIL in 1973, a team of twelve conservationists opened the sarcophagus of Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland and ten of them subsequently died over the course of a few months from a fungus released from the opening of the sarcophagus.
nWdmP TIL that sustaining the filibuster in US political history has, at various times, involved: preparing a pee bucket, reading the phone book, reciting recipes, and in one most remarkable case, restraining Robert La Follette from hurling a brass spittoon at Joseph Robinson in 1917.
gMvV8 TIL that Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on the plane that killed Buddy Holly, but he gave his seat to J. P. Richardson who was sick at the time. Before they left Holly jokingly said that he hoped the bus broke down, to which Jennings replied, "I hope your ol' plane crashes."