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TIL that the Taipei 101 skyscraper uses a 728 ton steel tuned mass damper (basically a giant pendulum) to counter motion of the building since it is so close to a fault line.

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x4Bb TIL that Google’s first interactive doodle, Pac-man, was so popular that it cost the global economy an estimated 122 million dollars in lost productivity
Lkp9Q TIL that In order to supply water to the parks of the Palace of Versailles, Louis XIV ordered the construction of the machine Marly to pump water from the Seine located 10 km from the castle with a drop of 150 meters. This machine, considered one of the most complex of its time worked for 133 years
lLMr TIL in 2009 Irish police found they had more than 50 motoring offences recorded for someone called “Prawo Jadzy”. It turned out that Prawo Jadzy means “driving license” in Polish
GA5MG TIL an enslaved blacksmith named Ned invented a "cotton scraper". His master, Oscar Stuart sought the patent for himself in Ned’s name but was denied as a slave was considered property and not a citizen, therefore could not apply for patent rights in the United States.
vPdg8 TIL The French cartoonist Nadar was the first person to take aerial photographs, shooting from a balloon, and the first to take photographs underground, taking pictures of the Paris Catacombs.