› added 11 years ago

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TIL that between 2007 and 2010, when driving around, Google’s Street View cars hijacked peoples personal wireless signals, collecting emails, text messages, internet browsing histories and other personal information, in the US, UK, France and the Netherlands.

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via reddit.com

7rxML TIL about Japan's first Super Hero: Golden Bat. A character predating Superman, that is still referenced in today's shows like Steven Universe, and has left an indelible mark on Super Hero culture since his inception
WkQjA TIL that a human being can remain perfectly functional after having an entire cerebral hemisphere removed. One patient completed college, attended graduate school and scored above average on intelligence tests, with literally only half a brain.
DQYXY TIL: A family of 12 performers, 7 of whom were dwarves, all survived Auschwitz after being separated by Mengele. Several prisoners who survived claimed they believed they were hallucinating when they saw seven well-dressed dwarves passing by.
gMW5X TIL of the "World's Littlest Skyscraper" scam committed on Wichita Falls, Texas. The designer said the building would be 480 in height. Investors assumed it was 480 feet not 480 inches and soon realized they invested $200,000 in a 4 storey building. They lost in court and the builder kept the money.
4XRJ5 TIL that the US Army never gave the Native Americans smallpox infested blankets as a tool of genocide. The US did inflict countless atrocities against the natives, but the smallpox blankets story was fabricated by a University of Colorado professor.