› added 3 years ago

100

TIL that before the 10th century, the queen piece wasn't used in chess. Instead, a piece was used called the vizier piece that represented a high-ranking Muslim political advisor.

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VMgR8 TIL that 'Moron', 'Idiot', and 'Imbecile' were once valid Psychology terms for people with low IQ. When these terms entered vernacular usage as insults, they were disused in favor of 'Mental Retardation' which in turn was disused in favor of 'Intellectual Disability'.
0wWb1 TIL 'Acquired tastes' are, in fact, real: we are psychologically conditioned to prefer sensations we have experienced before, even if it wasn't pleasant.
0wBvj TIL in WW2 when the US Air Force were trying to reduce losses of their bombers, they wanted to add armor to the areas that received the most damage, but a mathematician suggested they add the armor in areas that did not receive damage, as planes shot in those areas never made it back to be analyzed.
VxXQ TIL that Fujitsu made a device called the “iPAD” in 2002. Apple had to pay $4 million to Fujitsu to buy the trademark.
OZ9L TIL: In 1948 the Ford company was offered the Volkswagen company free of charge and declined the offer because it “wasn’t worth a damn”.