› added 1 week ago

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TIL That our brains can randomly project vivid scenes, like video game maps or childhood places, without any reason, thanks to a brain network that activates when we’re doing nothing.

Read more pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

via reddit.com

BkwD TIL that in 1968, the first instance on US television of physical contact between a black man (Harry Bellafonte) and a white woman (Petula Clark, who took hold of his arm when signing) made it to the screen only because Clark and her husband, destroyed all the takes where the contact did not occur.
p84dZ TIL that when a city builds more roads to reduce traffic the speed gains will usually disappear within a month, if not weeks.
0dbAR TIL in 1997 a crew of 6 robbed $18.9m in cash from the Dunbar Armored facility in LA; one of them had cased it while working there. They left almost no evidence & concealed their wealth for 2 yrs until one of them paid a broker with bills still in the original currency straps, which got them caught.
wvN7 TIL that Titanic survivor, Katherine Gilnagh, who was 16 when the Titanic sank, didn’t realise the seriousness of the ship’s situation until she reached New York. She thought that disembarking in lifeboats and being picked up by another ship was all part of the journey.
waxE TIL Engineers used to rely on imprecise calculations with slide rules that only showed three decimal points but designed the Empire State Building, Saturn V rocket with them. As a result, they designed conservatively by making walls thicker and bridges stronger than needed