› added 7 years ago

484

TIL that in 1888, when sound recording was in its infancy, Arthur Sullivan toasted Edison with the words: “I am astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever”.

Read more youtube.com

via ift.tt

OWW7 TIL that M&M’s were originally asked to be included in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. After Mars (The company that makes M&M’s) refused, their competitor Hershey was asked, and Reese’s Pieces were added to the movie instead, resulting in Reese’s Pieces sales going up as much as 300%
MeV4K TIL Tinder, Match.com, OKCupid, and PoF are owned by the same company.
lode5 TIL a researcher recorded more than 100 animal handlers and found it's pretty much universal -- regardless of the language spoken or the animal being handled -- that humans use short, repeated sounds to get an animal to go or speed up, and long, slow sounds to get an animal to stop or slow down.
vrmR TIL King George V was euthanized so that his death could be announced in the morning The Times newspaper rather than “less appropriate” evening tabloids
nl9W TIL that the term “Swan Song” comes from a belief dating back to 3rd century B.C. that the Mute Swan is silent its entire life until it sings one beautiful song right before it dies.