› added 6 years ago

104

TIL of Roger Babson, a man who hated gravity so much, he established a research center to find a way to defeat it.

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5YaLn TIL that the first computer game was Nim, released in April 1940 on a computer called the Nimatron, which weighed over a ton. The designer was a nuclear physicist and quantum mechanics pioneer who later participated in the Manhattan Project. 100,000 games were played, with the computer winning ~90%
Me0p7 TIL a contronym is a word that has contradictory meanings. Examples include - Bolt: to secure, or to flee. Bound: restrained, or heading somewhere. Go: to proceed, or to weaken or fail. Consult: to offer advice, or to obtain it.
6aMJ TIL that Nickleback’s manager instructed Jimmy Kimmel Live director Bobcat Goldwait not to shoot Chad Kroeger from profile because of his big nose. Goldwait waited until there were 10 seconds left in the band’s live performance, then ordered all cameras to shoot Kroeger’s nose.
QY8p TIL that ABC cuts scenes from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ to allow for more commercials, even though it’s about the overcommercialization of Christmas
X0aOD TIL: US President Gerald Ford turned down offers to play in the NFL for the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers after graduating from the University of Michigan