› added 1 week ago

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TIL inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu holds 3,377 patents (e.g. the floppy disk). He finds inspiration by going on long underwater swims while holding his breath as long as he can "to starve the brain of oxygen." Then at "0.5 seconds before death" he jots down his idea on a waterproof notepad & surfaces.

Read more smithsonianmag.com

via reddit.com

OG01R TIL that Pete Best, original drummer for the Beatles, released an album in 1965 called "Best of the Beatles" that contained no Beatles music, causing him to be investigated for consumer fraud. The case was dropped because no fraud had been committed. He was Best, of the Beatles
Gvr5 TIL That selling prices of $9.99 instead of $10.00 originated because it ensured the cashier had to open the till to give change, thus recording down every transaction so cashiers can’t just pocket the cash.
GAGE1 TIL that the famous "We Can Do It!" poster was barely known during WWII. It was displayed for two weeks as part of a series of posters to boost worker morale in one company's factories. It remained virtually unknown until the 1980s when it was rediscovered in an article about the National Archives.
E1vvo TIL that two of the biggest moments of the 20th century - the first successful climb of Mt. Everest and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - happened within a week of each other and made international news on the same day
ZpJo4 TIL research shows that reading literature makes people smarter and nicer