› added 2 years ago

86

TIL The Marvel No-Prize is a empty envelope that Marvel awarded fans for "meritorious service to the cause of Marveldom". Typically it was won by submitting an explanation for an error in a comic, but rules varied from author to author. The prize was inspired by George R. R. Martin.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

QNap9 TIL that a blank TV screen received good audience ratings. During a strike by ITV workers in 1979, the UK network aired a caption stating "Transmissions will start again as soon as possible". One million TVs stayed tuned to ITV, as people hoped the strike would end soon. It ended after 11 weeks.
Zgoa TIL that 75% of Japanese homes have a hi-tech toilet and the latest models eliminate the need for TP, keep you warm, check your blood pressure, play running-water sounds to increase privacy and open and close automatically so you don’t have to touch anything.
v1pPR TIL that the main character in Tomb Raider was originally intended to be a man until the developers began to worry that the character would be seen as derivative of Indiana Jones, so the character's gender was changed and Lara Croft was born.
gNE4 TIL that despite both being great composers, and living 80 miles apart (and never meeting each other) both Bach and Handel were blinded by the same Doctor.
BjpW TIL hog-morse happened when rookie telegraph users made timing errors. One alleged case concerns the similarity of “L” and “T”. A customer sent a request for “undressed staves (wood)” to a Virginia firm. Due to hog-morse, “slaves” was sent instead. The firm reminded the sender that slavery was over.