› added 3 years ago

77

TIL a man named Ed Thorpe figured out how to count cards in blackjack before anyone else. He then used his winnings and his quantitative strategies to open one of the most successful hedgefunds of all time. Oh—he also invented the first wearable computer!

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jaQN TIL that the word “Sioux” is not actually a word. It is a partial word from “Nadowessioux” which is an insult that means “little snakes.” The tribes associated with this nomenclature are actually the Dakota, the Lakota, and the Nakota.
j6Dj TIL that the original surveyors of Mount Everest lied and added 2 feet to its height to make it 29,002 feet, because they didn’t think people would believe them if they said it was really 29,000 feet high.
wGbM TIL That President Kennedy promised to “end housing discrimination with a stroke of the pen” when he got in to office; when he didn’t do so, Civil Rights groups sent thousands of pens to the White House in protest.
06xv TIL that the movie Never Been Kissed was titled “Because She’s Ugly” in the Philippines.
78WJx TIL despite being silent about Joseph McCarthy in public, President Dwight D. Eisenhower started a secret campaign that ultimately ended the Senator's career.