› added 9 years ago

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TIL some cable networks (like TBS and TNT) imperceptibly speed up reruns of shows (like Seinfeld) so they can fit in more ads. Speeding up the show by just 7.5% allows them to shave off almost two minutes off the broadcast.

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8eQg8 TIL that in 2008, the city of Chicago sold the rights to collect revenue from its parking meters to a foreign-owned company, receiving a sum of $1.2 billion against a 75 year lease. Investors have collected $2.1 billion so far, for a yearly RoR of only 4.3%. Chicago has made a handsome profit.
6YNX TIL North Korea’s most popular browser is Google Chrome, while South Korea’s is Internet Explorer.
ADJEg TIL: That the majority of bees dance to communicate with each other the location of sweet nectar. Yet there is a significant minority of bees that ignore the dance instructions and choose to explore their own paths. These contrarian bees are better at finding food than those that follow the crowd!
lv9N TIL that (till as late as) 17th century Europe, Nannies commonly used masturbation to put their young male charges to sleep.
AN9jn TIL that the Australian town Lightning Ridge got its name in the 1870s, when some passers-by found the bodies of a farmer, his dog, and 200+ sheep, which had been struck dead by lightning.