› added 12 years ago

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TIL that Bluetooth was named after a Danish king, and the logo is a rune-ligature composed of his initials.

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69g9Q TIL that the CIA used psychological warfare against Philippine resistance forces in the 1950s by taking advantage of mythical 'Aswang' (vampire-like in Filipino folklore) against the people by puncturing holes on the necks of dead bodies resembling aswang bites & piling them on the sides of roads.
YjlZ TIL an Indian farmer discovered he had been declared legally dead when he tried to apply for a bank loan, then spent 19 years trying to prove to the government he was actually alive.
GxLQ TIL the Han Dynasty in China was aware of the existence of the Roman Empire, calling them Daqin or “great Qin”. In 97 CE the Chinese attempted to send an envoy but he turned back after reaching a large “western sea”, discouraged by the long and perilous journey it would take to reach Rome itself.
YprGv TIL that Steven Spielberg bought and donated to the Academy Awards two Oscars that were being auctioned privately. He paid $578,000 for Bette Davis’ Best Actress Oscar for the 1938 movie “Jezebel,” and $607,500 for Clark Gable’s Best Actor Oscar for 1934’s “It Happened One Night.”
AxEB TIL that between 1970 and 1980, 2 billionaire brothers attempted to corner the silver market. They owned an estimated 1/3rd of the world supply when in 1980 the silver price collapsed with 80%. The brothers lost over a billion dollars.