› added 11 years ago

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TIL there is a name for the scent of rain

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Kjg4 TIL Select Mac computers from 1992-96 were sold with free, live technical support via a dedicated telephone number “for as long as you own your Apple product.” The company attempted to end the service, but was ordered to keep it due to a class-action lawsuit. The number still works (1-800-SOS-APPL).
mx6XR TIL about Massopora, a fungus which infects 13 and 17 year cycle cicadas. It can dissolve the gonads of males, cause their butts to fall off, turning them into "flying zombie salt shakers", and can also change the behavior of some males to make them trick other males into trying to breed with them.
YpJAv TIL of George Willig, who climbed the South Tower of World Trade Center on May 26, 1977. As his stunt was not officially scheduled, New York City wanted to fine him $250k for for "the inconvenience the stunt caused". However, the mayor of New York fined him just $1.10, one cent for every floor.
lopoa TIL that Clockwork Orange was so controversial in the UK that Stanley Kubrick requested Warner Brothers withdraw the movie from any further releases in the country only a year after its release, and thus up until Kubrick's death in 1999 it was very difficult to watch the movie legally in Britain.
WkKdL TIL some of the Dungeons and Dragons monsters, such as the owlbear or the bulette, were inspired by unrealistic weird-looking creatures that the game's creator found in a "Prehistoric Animals" toy set.