› added 13 years ago

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TIL that the first retail product ever to be scanned using its barcode was a 10 pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum. This gum is currently on display at the Smithsonian.

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4kMVw TIL the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was so intense that it obliterated most of the island and its surrounding archipelago. The explosion was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT, and the ash cloud lowered global temperatures, leading to a "volcanic winter".
1Am8 TIL that the St. Joseph’s student who serves as the school’s Hawk mascot receives a full scholarship as long as he does NOT stop flapping his wings at basketball games. The mascot is estimated to flap his wings 3,500 times during a regulation game.
M7wQB TIL Anne Rice's birth name was Howard Allen. She became 'Anne' on her first day of school, when a nun asked her what her name was. She told the nun 'Anne' because she considered it a pretty name. Her mother, who was with her, let it go without correcting her and then legally changed her name in 1947
XyYQ TIL a study involving 165 patients with Alzheimer’s found that those treated with the highest dose of an antibody drug, aducanumab, experienced an almost complete clearance of amyloid plaques (that supposedly lead to the irreversible memory loss and cognitive decline).
nW97B TIL the first digital computer, ENIAC, was programmed by six women in the 1940s. Fran Bilas, Betty Jennings, Ruth Lichterman, Kay McNulty, Betty Snyder, and Marlyn Wescoff's contributions were overlooked for decades. Their pioneering work laid the foundation for modern computing.