› added 10 years ago

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TIL a man was sent a letter offering him a credit card but he didn’t like the terms. So he altered the contract to include unlimited credit at 0% interest which the bank automatically accepted but then tried to void his card. He sued the bank for not sticking to terms of the credit contract and won.

Read more telegraph.co.uk

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788QO TIL that Wind Turbines have recently been inspired by the bumps on a Humpback Whales flippers. These bumps allow a smaller number of blades and a smaller, more energy-efficient motor to move the same amount of air as a larger turbine.
1dvO TIL during the first gulf war in 1990, NBC delayed the start time to the Tonight Show by 5 minutes, to give their affiliates more time to cover the conflict. Once local stations had those 5 precious minutes, they never gave them back. This is why all late night shows in the US start at 11:35 pm.
kJVY5 TIL that when Muhammad Ali first fought Sonny Liston, both fighters were widely disliked by reporters (Ali for his brashness and Liston for his connections to organised crime), leading to sports writer Jim Murray to hope for a double knockout.
DEmv TIL that Davy Crockett was a Tennessee Congressman and upon losing reelection he said in his concession speech “Since you have elected a man with a timber toe to succeed me, you may all go to Hell and I will go to Texas.”
R7Nxl TIL telling ghost stories around a fire was originally a Christmas Eve tradition. Beginning with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" it was an annual tradition throughout the Victorian Era and only changed when Halloween became popular in the 1920s.