› added 12 years ago

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TIL that two amazon booksellers using automatic algorithms to set their prices once each accidentally based their pricing on the other. The automatic programs created an upward spiral of competing prices that eventually topped $3 million for a textbook.

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Bmoy TIL. The first nuclear missile test in space “starfish prime” knocked out several allied satellites and disabled communications on Hawaii.
1aQPX TIL that the Marvel Comics character Rocket Raccoon was named after The Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon."
lo5a TIL John Lennon intentionally made the lyrics to “I Am a Walrus” make no sense to confuse the students he heard were trying to analyze Beatles songs. After recording the song he said, “Let the fuckers work that one out.”
R5Wda TIL that O.J Simpson was found guilty of armed robbery, exactly 13 years after he had been acquitted for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
5YA8Q TIL In 2003 New Zealand engineer Bruce Simpson designed an $5,000 cruise missile using off the shelf parts sourced from the Internet. Despite being entirely legal, his project was shut down by the government.