› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the deep and ominous hum that rises through the subway grate at 45th/Broadway in Times Square, which many would assume is owed to a generator or some other NYC Transit equipment, is in fact an art installation by sound artist Max Neuhaus. It has been in operation, on and off, since 1977.

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via reddit.com

VMPap TIL in 1816, 147 shipwrecked Frenchman were stuck adrift on a makeshift raft when their captain cut the rope towing them. It took only 3 days for them to resort to cannibalism & only 15 survived to be rescued after 13 days. The aristocrat captain hadn't sailed in 20 yrs & it was 100% avoidable.
l75v7 TIL naked mole rats have a 10x longer lifespan (~30 years) than domestic rats, and carry various cancer-resistant genetic properties.
neKMo TIL that the name Dennis derives from Dionysus, name of the Greek god of the grape-harvest, winemaking and wine, of fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre
xVWl7 TIL Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never completed high school. He was such a child prodigy that he skipped grades and enrolled in college at the age of 15. He later received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Bachelor of Divinity and his PhD in theology.
1NKX TIL that in 1990 phone companies continued to charge a “touch tone fee” for use of touch tone phones in the home even though the companies actually saved money through the use of those phones.