› added 11 years ago

363

TIL the national speed limit was set at 55mph not for safety reasons, but to conserve fuel

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d8o4r TIL by using a man in the middle, two brothers hacked the French optical telegraph system to gain advance information on the stock market. When they got caught two years later, they walked away as free men because in 1836 there were no laws against hacking
MKmK TIL that in 2008 a ship’s anchor accidentally cut two underwater Internet cables - reducing Asia’s internet capacity by 72%.
dDEWE TIL Chess games are banned at Russian Antarctic Stations because in 1959 one researcher attacked another with an axe out of anger after losing a game.
nearG TIL most vegetables retain more nutrients from microwaving than any other form of cooking, and therefore microwaving is the healthiest way to cook your veggies
R7wv6 TIL the bubonic plague killed an estimated 200 million people and it took Eurasia 200 years to recover lost population