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TIL Hello Kitty is the 2nd highest grossing media franchise of all time at $80 Billion, behind Pokemon ($95 Billion), beating out other franchises such as Star Wars, Marvel, and Mickey Mouse.

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ne5NW TIL the word "Ye" on nostalgic signs (Ye Old Tavern, etc) is supposed to be a Middle-English translation of "The". However, Ye was never actually a word- a character called a Thorn (þ) made a "TH" sound, so it would be spelled 'þe Old Tavern', reading as 'The Old Tavern.'
4XwX5 TIL The Los Angeles Dodgers got their name due to fans having to dodge Brooklyn's complex network of trolley cars, which killed over 130 people in the first 3 years of operation. With horse drawn trolleys, the horse would stop. The all new electric trolley cars, however, would plow right over you.
a8ePL TIL: Before CAD, semiconductor chips were designed and drawn by hand, a process that typically required 7-9 revisions. However, Bill Mench managed to singlehandedly draw the design of MOS 6502 chip (used in the C64 and Atari 2600) without any revisions!
16e5V TIL of the YE-ZB radio navigation equipment. It was used during WW2 by the US Navy aircraft like the hellcat and corsair to find their way home to their aircraft carriers. It worked by emitting morse code the pilot could use to determine course, with intensity corresponding to distance.
Bg8Ey TIL that the movie "Paranormal Activity" had a total budget of $215,000. It went on to earn $193 million at the global box office.