› added 6 months ago

15

TIL that many early phone lines were "party lines" that anyone who picked up the phone could listen in on; customers had to pay an extra monthly fee to upgrade to a private line.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

ag1y TIL in 2008, Brazil made sex change surgeries free under their public health care system, ruling that sexual reassignment surgery was covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right.
yXyv TIL that during the cold war, when navy divers repairing a whale enclosure heard a human-like voice saying “out, out, out,” and got out of the water to see nobody, they found out that a beluga whale named “Noc” had learned to mimic human speech and was trying to communicate with them.
x6onD TIL that Tokyo was built on water and European visitors often compared it to Venice
pY8xA TIL of the "preparedness paradox" where if a disaster is avoided through planning and vigilance, people will doubt that the preparation was necessary
ZBZo TIL of Arthur the dog. Arthur, a stray, followed a Swedish Extreme sports team 6500 miles to the finish line of the Adventure Racing World Championship with life threatening injuries.