› added 4 years ago

101

TIL of Brian Molony, a compulsive gambler famous for embezzling millions to feed his gambling habit. Starting gambling from the age of 10, he embezzled 10 million dollars and lost almost 5 million dollars at Caesars Atlantic City. His life story is the basis of the movie Owning Mahowny.

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j6p6n TIL the first business idea of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs wasn't Apple but a business called Blue Box. Long distance calls in the 70s was very expensive so they made an illegal device that would trick phone companies into connecting you to phone numbers overseas.
yQbbv TIL of the General delegation for the French language and languages of France (aka the French Language Police) whose job is to research emerging English words and come up with French equivalents to keep the language alive.
AXyl TIL Nigerians make up less than 1 percent of the black population in the United States, yet make up one-quarter of the black students at Harvard Business School; over a fourth of Nigerian-Americans have a graduate or professional degree, as compared with only about 11 percent of whites.
Ayln TIL King Mithradates of Pontus had a flock of ducks who consumed poisonous plants and didn’t die (thus making them useful for creating antidotes); however their blood, meat, and eggs could kill you if you ingested them
b9XV4 TIL: Verizon will hang up on you (and refuse to communicate) if you inform them that you are recording the phone call. Even though they require you to let them record you.