› added 11 months ago

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TIL that Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin (musical instrument), also invented the first ever burglar alarm, the first CCTV system, the first drum machine, and one of the first covert listening devices. He also saw both the birth and the fall of the Soviet Union, living to the age of 97.

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4GAg TIL the serious actors in Airplane! were specifically instructed and directed to “play it like they don’t know they’re in a comedy. Like no one told them.”
WkWKN TIL that in 1972, two grad students at MIT invented Proton-Enhanced Nuclear Induction Spectroscopy, a technique for transferring spin orientation from one atomic nucleus to another. Yes, they chose this name specifically for the acronym.
6EOp7 TIL People are more likely to give up smoking when they live in areas surrounded by grass and trees
nD59 TIL of Kim Ung-Yong, a South Korean man who was a guest student at a university at the age of 3, was invited by NASA to conduct research at 8, and earned a PhD in Civil Engineering at 15. He also has the highest IQ ever recorded in history.
bKEQ TIL in 1973, New York Yankee pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson held a press conference to announce they had “traded lives.” This included the exchange of wives, children, and dogs.