› added 5 years ago

197

TIL that US Navy periscope operators now use Xbox controllers, as the original control stick was deemed too complicated and a lot more expensive. Xbox controllers are so widely used that the learning time is hugely reduced, and they cost $37,980 less.

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via reddit.com

Z8BgY TIL Star Trek: The Animated Series was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy.
EgERV TIL the Heat Index (aka "feels-like" temperature) is only accurate for healthy and well-hydrated adults of average size and weight who are sitting in the shade with a breeze of 5 knots. These and other assumptions are parameterized as constants in the formula and any deviations result in inaccuracy.
oBkZE TIL Nakatomi Plaza in the movie “Die Hard” is actually 20th Century Fox’s headquarters and they charged themselves rent to use it
JYwEj TIL Dolly Parton's "Jolene" is about a red-headed clerk who had a crush on her husband, but the song is named after one of her fans. Dolly told her, "That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I'm going to write a song about that."
b9RD0 TIL Rootbeer is popular in the US, bot not in Europe, because the substance (methyl salycilate) that gives root beer its distinct flavor, is widely used in European dentist mouthwash.