› added 3 years ago

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TIL in 1964 AT&T debuted “Picturephone” for face to face calls. It projected 100k+ subscribers by 1975, but only ever had a few hundred. The service cost $160/mo at 25¢/min (or about $1,300/mo at $2/min adjusted for inflation in 2022)

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Oo4oY TIL There exists a non profit organization whose sole mission is to assure the six Apollo lunar landing sites are preserved and protected for posterity by having them included on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List
PYGBO TIL that for 15 years, Sweden thought enemy submarines were invading their waters, but it turned out to be farting herrings. Shoals were huge enough for the collective flatulence to register on military radar, producing sounds and small bubbles which were mistakenly identified as Russian subs.
b9RL0 TIL that while the punishment for an incelibate Vestal Virgin was to be buried alive, ancient Roman law forbade burials within the city. Offenders instead were entombed in small underground apartments with food and provisions, changing the legal definition to "descending into a habitable room."
XEaDP TIL "Tremolo bars" are called that way because Leo Fender had a habit of calling his volume pedal "vibrato pedal" and his vibrato bar "tremolo bar". Tremolo is a change in volume while vibrato is change in pitch.
QNEvE TIL The Page Act of 1875 barred entry of Asian immigrants suspected of entering the US involuntarily or for sex work. In practice, the law targeted Chinese women by appealing to a common stereotype that they were prostitutes and dangerous to the institution of marriage.