› added 2 months ago

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TIL that in the 19th century, there was a common prejuidice towards the german immigrant population that they were eating dogs. That is how, when the frankfurter sausage was introduced, there were rumors circulating that there was dog meat in it, so it earned the nickname "Hot dog".

Egr8X TIL Horror director and Legally Blonde actor Oz Perkins is the son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins, and the nephew of Cabaret and Barry Lyndon star Marisa Berenson. Perkins's mother, Berinthia "Berry" Berenson Perkins, was killed in the September 11th attacks shortly after Legally Blonde's release.
OG0YY TIL Byzantine emperor Basil II "the Bulgar Slayer" after the battle of Kleidion divided 15,000 war prisoners into groups of 100 men, blinded 99 men in each group and left one man in each with one eye so that he could lead the others home.
ZoQG TIL Mark Twain predicted his own death in 1909 “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it.” He died in 1910, a day after the comet returned.
mxJaO TIL that Chinese youth used to listen to a lot of music CDs from the US with holes punched through the corner. The so-called "dakou" CDs were surplus albums destined to be disposed, but ended up being sold in China instead. You could listen to most of each album, but some songs would be missing.
d8Z5E TIL that modern computing can be traced back to fabric making on looms in the early 1800's. Punchcards were used to programmatically weave patterns. Named after their founder, Jacquard Loom cards helped inspire Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and early IBM computing.