› added 2 years ago

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TIL that eating a tiny bit of mom's poop could give C-section babies an immune ‘primer'

1a9vW TIL that the first message sent across the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, on August 16, 1858, read, "Directors of Atlantic Telegraph Company, Great Britain, to Directors in America:—Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good will towards men."
d8VX9 TIL that Rob McElhenney of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" originally wanted the entire cast to get fat for a single season. When nobody else agreed, McElhenney decided to do it on his own - gaining 1/3 of his body weight and then losing it again just for a season.
d85E8 TIL Sony released a camera in 1998 that could see through people's clothes. It included an infrared powered night mode that consumers realized could turn dark fabric and swimsuits transparent. Sony sold 700k "x-ray cameras" before fixing the issue in manufacturing.
e4jL TIL The Soviet Union allowed theaters to play The Grapes of Wrath because of its depiction of the plight of the poor under capitalism, but it was later withdrawn because Russian audiences were amazed that even the poorest Americans could afford a car.
Z8yyB TIL that one of the earliest uses for the term Round Robin was a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified, a mutiny on a ship for example.