› added 8 years ago

68

TIL that Dutch company Philips invented the cassette, portable radio, VCR, and CD

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1QDO TIL that Li-ion batteries (the type used in modern laptops, phones and by Tesla) contain no toxic metals (unlike other types of batteries which may contain lead or cadmium) and they are generally categorized as non-hazardous waste.
8akAX TIL the Mariah Carey song "Hero" was written for the Dustin Hoffman/Geena Davis dramedy of the same name but the CEO of the record label convinced her to not give the movie the song, saying it was "too good" for the movie.
KPG4 TIL the record for the fastest manned aircraft was set in 1959, and still hasn’t been broken.
QNJ0p TIL Voltaire met a married mother of 3, Émilie du Châtelet, 12 years his junior with whom he had an affair with for 16 years. Later, on a visit to Paris, Voltaire took a new lover - his niece, Marie Louise Mignot.
ldg5 TIL that for Christmas, Catalan children “feed” a hollowed-out log with a painted face, then later sing a song and beat the log with a stick until it defecates presents. The first line of the song is “Shit, log!”