› added 8 months ago

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TIL that Zelda's Ultrahand ability that lets you telepathically move and combine objects was named after late Nintendo employee Gunpei Yoko's first invention from 1966: the Ultra Hand plastic toy that could grab objects from afar. It sold over 1 million units and financially saved Nintendo.

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AANd TIL there is a custom in Naples called Caffè Sospeso where someone who had experienced good luck would order a sospeso, paying the price of two coffees but receiving and consuming only one. A poor person enquiring later whether there was a sospeso available would then be served a coffee for free.
grnL9 TIL Helium-3 found in crystals on the moon could provide energy to the earth
Brpex TIL Stephen King kept a severe alcohol and cocaine addiction hidden from his family for eight years. He claims he kept the addiction well-hidden but eventually, "...the books [started] to show it after a while. 'Misery' is a book about cocaine. Annie Wilkes is cocaine. She was my number-one fan."
7rpZb TIL about "one of the biggest companies you've never heard of". Acxiom gathers information on some 700 m people, with up to 1,500 data points per person, for ultra targeted marketing. Down to the list of people who buy particular brands of cereal in your local supermarket.
rRnGe TIL that not only did Billy Joel write his classic hit "New York State of Mind" in just 15 minutes, but that he did so on the very day he moved from California back to New York while literally on the Greyhound that he was taking back home, out of a sense of pride that he was finally returning home.