› added 11 years ago

80

TIL that Japan’s power grid is divided into two incompatible parts (50 vs. 60 Hz). This started in the 1890s, when Tokyo bought German generators while Osaka bought American ones.

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v1eAB TIL The bezel on a dive watch only turns counterclockwise so that if the bezel is bumped accidentally during a dive it will only move in one direction, subtracting time from the dive and prompting the diver to surface early rather than staying under for too long.
ky9g TIL in May, 2017, a big game hunter famous for pioneering “Monteria Hunts” where packs of dogs scare big game animals toward groups of hunters died after an elephant fell on him
4XanJ TIL: In 1610 Galileo used a telescope to discover that Venus goes through phases similar to the Moon, a revolutionary observation that “ultimately helped to deliver a deathblow to the long-held concept of an Earth-centered universe.”
0wYM1 TIL when filming Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick got George C. Scott to overact on his takes by promising him they wouldn't be used in the final cut (#7).
l0MV TIL CIA spent $15 million to train a cat to spy on Russians. Just after it was released on its mission, the cat was killed by a car.