› added 10 months ago

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TIL Formula 1 cars generate enough downforce at high speeds to theoretically drive upside down. At full speed, they create 2.5x their weight in downforce and pull 3.5g in corners, making drivers feel nearly 45 lbs of force on their heads and struggle to breathe, requiring extreme fitness to endure.

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RP0l TIL in the last years of her life, Rosa Parks became too ill to manage her own financial affairs. When her rent became delinquent, her apartment’s ownership company announced they would let her live rent free in the building for the remainder of her life.
YpDOB TIL In 1925, General Electric, Phillips, & other light bulb manufacturers colluded against consumers & created the 'Phoebus Cartel'. The Cartel conspired to reduce the 1925 light bulb life expectancy from 2500 Hours down to only 1000 Hours & at the same time, to increase the Price Per Bulb.
Y76PG TIL that in 1971, a man survived an accidental skydiving fall from 10,000 feet after his parachute failed to open, landing in snow and walking away with minor injuries.
AN6N7 TIL: Gunpei Yokoi was a legendary game designer at Nintendo who designed the GameBoy and produced Metroid. His design philosophy was "Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology" which emphasizes fun novel gameplay over new tech. He died after getting hit by a 2nd car when he exited to inspect damage.
LQMbV TIL that the library career of the creator of the Dewey Decimal system, Melvil Dewey ended in disgrace, because of his groping of female librarians. Dewey also insisted on seeing photographs of the women before he would hire them, to determine if they were attractive or not.