› added 2 years ago

79

TIL the wrecked S. S. Minnow from Gilligan's Island was named after FCC Chairman Newton Minnow, who called television "a vast wasteland".

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

YpknG TIL a 2011 study showed that a group of 4 year olds had a temporary lapse in cognitive function after watching 9 minutes of SpongeBob
nvkb TIL in 1934 Philo Farnsworth and RCA went to court to establish whose patent marked the beginning of TV broadcasting. In court, Farnsworth’s high school physics teacher testified that the boy, at 14 years old, first described to him the idea for a scanning tube, better known as a television.
grO77 TIL, the reason you hold your hand up in court when you take the oath is that centuries ago, criminals were branded on the hand. Different letters were used in England, F for Liar, T for Thief, F for Fugitives, R for Rogue, V for Vagabond, and P for Perjury.
XE6WP TIL In 1984 water beds were a $2 billion business with 3.4 million sold in the United States alone. At the time, 75 percent of all stores that sold water beds also offered a selection of water bed cribs.
rAYM TIL that Jim Varney, of “Ernest” fame, was actually a trained Shakespearean actor, and used the Ernest movies as a way to fund that love.