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TIL: CSPAN was created by the cable companies in 1979 as a free public service for all. Anyone could watch live our Congress doing their jobs. Now? C-SPAN requires verification of a cable or satellite subscription but hopes someday they can be free to the general public again.

Read more c-span.org

via reddit.com

GANxG TIL from the 1920s-2000s, some South Koreans believed running an electric fan in a room without an open window would lead to death
vPdvj TIL in the 1880s, the director of Harvard Observatory was dissatisfied with his team and remarked, "My Scottish maid could do better!" He hired Williamina Fleming, his Scottish maid. For decades, Fleming led a team that made significant discoveries, including white dwarfs and the Horsehead Nebula.
kY1 TIL Dave Thomas (Wendy’s) worked with Colonel Sanders (KFC) to adopt certain trademarks, including the bucket and sign. Then with the money he made, founded Wendy’s.
ngyo TIL in 1988 Michael Jackson called Matt Groening and asked to be a guest voice on The Simpsons. He performed in “Stark Raving Dad” under a pseudonym and wrote the song “Happy Birthday Lisa”. Later, he would write “Do the Bartman” without receiving any credit.
PY8Vw TIL of "Hickam's dictum," a counterargument to Occam's razor in the medical profession. While Occam's razor suggests to a doctor that she should assume the simplest solution - a single cause for multiple symptoms, Hickam's dictum states: "A patient can have as many diseases as he damn well pleases."