› added 3 weeks ago

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TIL the first publicly witnessed and verified perfect score in Pac-Man (without manipulating the game's hardware) did not happen until 1999

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WQPL TIL that 160 people were able to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar accurate to .1% when their answers were averaged. Out of 4510 beans, the average guess was 4514. The phenomena is known as wisdom of the crowd.
9wJ8m TIL About The Battle of the Eclipse. It was fought in the early 6th century BC in Anatolia (Turkey) between the Medes and the Lydians. According to ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the battle was interrupted by “day turning into night” (Solar Eclipse), Leading to a treaty ending the 6 year war.
eXbn TIL that Nintendo had a free phone number (206.885.PLAY) that would help you beat a level if you were stuck. It was free so that kids would beat the game faster and buy a new game.
awEYM TIL that time of flight (ToF) sensors in our modern smartphones actually bounce a signal off the object in front of it and record how long the signal takes to return to the sensor in order to measure distance, kind of like radar
4XlZg TIL about "Kryptos", a sculpture at the CIA headquarters in Langley, VA composed of a matrix of letters cut into metal. It was installed 30 years ago, and contains an encrypted riddle that remains unsolved.