› added 11 years ago

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TIL that Dell OptiPlex PCs sold from 2002 to 2005 had a failure rate of 97% over a three-year period according to a Dell study. They were subsequently sued over this matter because employees knew they were likely to break.

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69NAl TIL about the Kentucky Meat Shower, where mysterious chucks of meat fell from the sky in 1876
6EWYX TIL that Gerald Ratner, ex-CEO of a budget jewelry chain, destroyed £500 million in company value with a single speech in which he called his products "total crap" and "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long." Such gaffes are now known as "doing a Ratner."
e0QQ5 TIL that a Venice-like city in present-day Micronesia was built in the 8th or 9th century and abandoned by the 17th century.
0dGML TIL On april 18th, 1930 the BBC reported that there was no news so instead, they played piano music.
NMrJ TIL For years an American magician named William Robinson masqueraded as a Chinese performer named Chung Ling Soo. He never spoke English in public until he was fatally shot during a performance of his bullet catch trick. His only words on stage; “Oh my God. Something’s happened. Lower the curtain.”