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TIL the Yapese use large stone “coins” for money which can weigh up to 8,800 lbs. Rather than move them, they usually just keep track of who the owner is. When one was lost at sea, people continued to “trade” it even though it was never recovered, since they all agreed it must still exist.

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PY61Z TIL some scientists believe that deja vu happens when your brain malfunctions and sends information immediately to your long-term memory bank, causing you to feel like the experience has happened before.
odO7 TIL that, in 1948, a psychologist gave a group of his students a test that he said could summarise their personalities. Upon receiving their summaries one week later, the students gave them an average accuracy score of 85.2%. In reality, the students had all received the exact same summary.
BOxW TIL of UCSC grad student Jim Kent who wrote a program to allow the Human Genome Project to assemble and publish the genome. The research was largely motivated by concerns that Celera Genomics, working on a parallel project, would patent the data. Kent’s results were released first by 3 days.
0w6Mv TIL 19-yr-old Eric Simons squatted at AOL HQ to work on his startup. When a mentorship ended, his badge still gave access; for 2 months he got basic free food from the lounge, used the showers, locker, & gym, did wash at AOL's free laundromat, & rotated sleep on 3 couches to evade night security.
5YyrR TIL the tradition of a “short snorter” began with 1920s Alaskan bush pilots. They would sign banknotes for each other, and if they ever met again, and whoever didn't have it would owe a (short) drink. The term came to mean a roll of banknotes joined and covered with signatures.