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TIL in 1996, David Bowie released the first downloadable song by a major artist (it took 11 minutes to download). He later launched an ISP (BowieNet) to compete with AOL. Subscribers to the dial-up service were offered exclusive content, as well as an email address and "uncensored" Internet access.

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9pMX TIL in 1861 there was 45 straight days of rain in California, creating a lake 300 miles long and 20 miles wide in the Central Valley and an inland sea in Orange County.
kOb07 TIL the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder symptoms made popular by "Monk" (fear of germs, cleaning, repetitive actions, etc) is half or the "Compulsive" side of the disorder. The other side or "Obsessive" side have patients that struggle with unwanted sexual or violent thoughts they can't control.
644W TIL That in 1967, medical researchers at a Vermont state prison conducted an experiment where they had inmates gain up to 25% of their body weight in return for early release. For some of the volunteers, it was impossible to reach their target weights, despite eating up to 10,000 calories a day.
a89Ro TIL on April Fool’s Day of 1957 the BBC showed a 3 minute report broadcast showcasing a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti from their family spaghetti tree convincing numerous British people that spaghetti grew on trees.
rRVPd TIL of the Beijing Weather Modification Office, used by the government to control the weather on demand. Examples include creating real snowfall for New Years Day and moving clouds away from the Olympic Stadium to prevent rain by firing chemicals into the sky.