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TIL In 1999, people believed that Furbies contained computer chips so they could record words and repeat them. The U.S. satellite intelligence operation banned Furbies - in essence, accusing the toy of being a Chinese-manufactured spy, a secret-stealing bugging device capable of eavesdropping.

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o9NW TIL That when Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria saw revolutionaries marching on his palace, he asked “But are they allowed to do that?”
a5KZ TIL there is a secret club of the most influential and prominent men in the world who gather once a year in California for three weeks, which includes business Leaders, government officials, former US presidents, media executives, and people of power based on invite-only memberships since 1878.
jnVR TIL measuring 4086mi^2, the largest salt pan Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is so flat that rain can’t drain, creating the world’s largest natural mirror. It’s also 5x better for satellite calibration than the surface of the ocean, and an elevation measurement accuracy of 0.8 inches
9wyEr TIL that in 1947, Logician Kurt Gödel supposedly found a loophole in the US Constitution that would allow the American democracy to legally be turned into a dictatorship. Even todya, it is not known precisely what this loophole entailed.
4XMEJ TIL of Franceska Mann, a Jewish ballerina who was sent to Auschwitz. She reportedly stripped down to nothing but high heels outside of a gas chamber, then stabbed an SS guard in the eye with a heel, grabbed his pistol, shot and killed another SS guard, and wounded a third.