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TIL the Russian listening device planted in the US Embassy, "The Thing" was designed by Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin musical instrument.. and the technology in "The Thing" was a precursor to RFID tags.

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W7wRY TIL that when Michael Jackshon died, he was deeply in debt. This was due to dwindling income from not touring in 12 years, while continuing to live the same expensive lifestyle. One forensic analyst estimated that he spent between $20 to $30 million more per year than he was earning.
RrP8 TIL that Ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes used nothing more than shadows, geometry, and a dude he hired to pace out the distance between two cities to determine that the earth was curved, and roughly 40 thousand kilometers in circumference, and he was right.
5vrp TIL that pendulums behave inexplicably different during solar eclipses, sometimes rotating up to 13 degrees in a span of 14 minutes (as opposed to the usual rate of 3.75 degrees per 15 minutes).
W7eEN TIL about Major Money, who was born in Montreal weeks before Canada, moved with his family to England as an infant, fought in the Boer War and WW I, and returned to Canada to operate a hotel on Vancouver Island, where he hosted, among others, Bob Hope, Errol Flynn and Shirley Temple.
Rlxl TIL that Reptar from Rugrats was voiced by Busta Rhymes