› added 1 year ago

234

TIL From 1908 to 1940, you could choose from over 400 styles of homes to purchase through Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail-order catalog. Sears sold a house set that was 1,000 sq ft for $1,700 in 1929. If you account for inflation it comes out to about $26,000.

Read more popularmechanics.com

via reddit.com

LkQbr TIL: After testifying against the Cosa Nostra in 1984, Salvatore Riina ordered the murders of an informant's two sons, brother & 33 of his other relatives
Y9bZ TIL underwater Octopus Wrestling was a popular sport in the 1960s with the annual World Championships held in Puget Sound, Washington. The event was televised and attracted 5000 spectators. The caught octopuses (which can grow up to 90 pounds) were either eaten, donated, or released back to the wild
XEJZR TIL that fudge was popularized by rebellious women in the early days of women being able to attend college. They had strict curfews so they would rebel by holding late night snack parties in their dorms and secretly cooking fudge over gas lamps. It became a cliche that women's education = fudge.
ADRKB TIL The First Scientists to examine a preserved Platypus body (1799) determined it was fake and made of several animals sewn together.
9wLRm TIL in 2012, a computer history museum in California sent a team to Sparkler Filters, a company in Texas, to try to coax them into selling their IBM 402 with Model 129 key punch that was being used for accounting work and inventory. In 2013, the company was still using the machine.