› added 6 months ago

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TIL that Google Maps started out as a C++ program designed by two Danish brothers, Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen. Google acquired the program from Where 2 Technologies in 2004 and turned it into a web-based product.

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P1RG TIL there is a desert spider that builds a blanket from its silk and sand, then burrows into the ground, and hides itself in the burrow with said blanket as a cover. It kills unsuspecting prey by trapping it in the silk blanket and then heating it alive against the scorching sand.
QJVRL TIL Häagen Dazs’s name doesn’t mean anything - its founder wanted a Danish sounding brand name, as Denmark was known for its dairy products, despite the fact that such a word does not and cannot exist within Danish’s spelling system.
m1B1v TIL there is such a thing as a Bee Fly. Bombyliidae, are a family of flies that resemble bees and are known for their role as pollinators.
yVGle TIL Abraham Lincoln had already seen the play “Our American Cousin” and did not like it. He went at the insistence of his wife stating, "All right, Mary, I'll go; but if I don't go down in history as the martyr President, I miss my guess."
W9Bo TIL In 2001 54 wine experts were given 2 glasses of same white wine, one dyed red with food coloring. Not one noticed it was the same wine.