› added 12 years ago

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TIL 500,000 American SMS’s were intercepted on 9/11, indicating massive surveillance started well before the attacks

Read more 911.wikileaks.org

via reddit.com

RQy1 TIL that William Wrigley, Jr. sold soaps in 1891, offering baking powder as incentive to buyers. The baking powder proved to be more popular, so he started selling it, offering gum as incentive. But the gum proved to be EVEN more popular, so he started selling them. In 1893, Juicy Fruit debuted.
5D7P TIL: Lou Pai a former Enron executive who cashed out $280 million in stock and left the company right before it collapsed, divorced his wife, married an exotic dancer, bought a ranch in Colorado for $12 million and later sold it for $60 million. He has never been charged with any criminal wrongdoing
nWVD9 TIL that Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin (musical instrument), also invented the first ever burglar alarm, the first CCTV system, the first drum machine, and one of the first covert listening devices. He also saw both the birth and the fall of the Soviet Union, living to the age of 97.
yvPa TIL that antibiotics are usually not effective for sore throats and common colds as they are caused by viruses rather than bacteria. Taking antibiotics for such illnesses is considered more harmful than beneficial.
pYm58 TIL Partially because of the generation that grew up on Jurassic Park becoming Paleontologists in large numbers about one new species of dinosaur is discovered every week