› added 4 years ago

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Today I learned the late, great voiceover god Peter Thomas of Forensic Files and numerous documentaries provided the voice of Philips brand Automated External Defibrillators. He said that Philips "wanted a voice that wouldn't scare people." Clearly they never watched Forensic Files alone at 3 AM!

lo1pK TIL a gannet named Nigel, was dubbed "the loneliest bird in the world" due to the absence of any other birds of his species on his island. Conservationists built fake concrete birds to attract more birds but Nigel ended up falling in love with one the decoys.
r8X4 TIL Lucy was a chimp who was raised as a human. She was forced back into the wild at the age of 12 when she was more human than ape. A year later, her remains were found with her skin, hands, and feet taken by poachers. It is believe she openly approached them due to her friendliness towards humans.
8alP4 TIL the Ozma problem is an old problem asks if we could communicate the concept of left and right to an alien over the radio. In the 1950's physicists found a way when they observed that certain radioactive decays actually "care" about if the atom is spinning clockwise or anti-clockwise.
VBo50 TIL that Edgar Allan Poe at age 27 married his 13-year old cousin, whom he loved more as a sister. (By then she was already a widow, and apparently they got married so he could provide for her).
pYJdZ TIL Germany had secret plans to invade Boston and New York City prior to WWI. It would have required 60 warships, and 100,000 soldiers. German troops were to land at Cape Cod, and Sandy Hook NJ, and fire shells into Boston and Manhattan in an effort to induce panic among civilians.