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Post a random fact people probably don't know! (And even if they did, they wouldn't care.)


Benice
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On April 9, 1860โ€”162ย years agoโ€”the French inventor ร‰douard-Lรฉon Scott de Martinville created the first sound recording in history. An eerie rendition of the folksongย "Au clair de la lune," the clip was captured by Scott's trademark invention, the phonautograph, the earliest device known to preserve sound.

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Charlotte Braun was a very minor character appearing in early Peanuts strips - introduced on 30 Nov 1954, appeared a few times over the following one or two weeks, then disappeared until she got another two or three appearanced in early 1955. She last took stage on 1 Feb, never to be seen again. It's not very surprising, since she honestly was mostly a joke character befitting FE Fates: Her name is very similar to Charlie Brown (and she even says that her friends call her 'Good ol' Charlotte Braun'), she has the same round face as him, and very much unlike him, her voice is very loud, to everybody else's annoyance.

What makes her unique is that Charles M. Schulz drew her with an ax in her head, which isn't really something one would expect from the Peanuts.

Spoiler

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A reader, Elizabeth Swaim, wrote Schulz a letter requesting that he would remove Charlotte from the active roster, to which he replied:

Quote

Dear Miss Swaim,

I am taking your suggestion regarding Charlotte Braun and will eventually discard her. If she appears anymore it will be in strips that were already completed before I got your letter or because someone writes in saying that they like her. Remember, however, that you and your friends will have the death of an innocent child on your conscience. Are you prepared to accept such responsibility?

Thanks for writing, and I hope that future releases will please you.

Sincerely, Charles M. Schulz

...accompanied by the little doodle of Charlotte getting the ax. Shortly after Schulz died in 2000, Swaim donated that letter to the Library of Congress.

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"On August 17, 1908, the Gaumont company in Paris released Fantasmagorie, the world's first fully animated cartoon created by Emile Cohl in the traditional hand-drawn animation style. The film depictingย images morphing fluidly from one to the next is a tribute to the Incoherent Art Movement of France which had been almost forgotten by that time. This later gave birth to many of the techniques used in avant-garde art later on.ย 

The film takes its name from the fantasmograph, a 19th century lantern which projects shadowy images on the wall. The French term 'fantasmagorie' is defined as "a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined."

Fantasmagorie depicts a stickman moving around and interacting with a few objects. The most striking sequence is a character sitting at the cinema behind a woman with a huge pineapple-like feathery hat which he then proceeds to rip apart layer after layer.ย 

Emile Cohl worked for around five months to create Fantasmagorie, from February 1908 to either May or June, creating 700 drawing to flesh out the 1 minute 20 second film. To do this, Cohl used an illuminated glass plate and traced consecutive drawings with the variations needed so that the film could consistent movement and continuity among the drawings.

Though the film looks like the popular chalkboard caricatures of the time, it is actually made from pen on paper drawings which were then double exposed to create a negative film effect of white lines on black. This 'chalk line effect' was inspired by a famous early animator, James Stuart Blackton." - India Today

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Edited by Emotional Support Himbo
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64 years ago, before either arcades or home video games, visitors waited in line at Brookhaven National Laboratory to play โ€œTennis for Two,โ€ an electronic tennis game that is unquestionably a forerunner of the modern video game. Tennis for Two was first introduced on October 18, 1958, at one of the Lab'sย annual visitorsโ€™ days. Two people played the electronic tennis game with separate controllers that connected to an analog computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen. The gameโ€™s creator, William Higinbotham, was a nuclear physicist lobbied for nuclear nonproliferation as the first chair of the Federation of American Scientists.ย 

Visitors playing Tennis for Two saw a two-dimensional, side view of a tennis court on the oscilloscope screen, which used a cathode-ray tube similar to a black and white television tube. The ball, a brightly lit, moving dot, left trails as it bounced to alternating sides of the net. Players served and volleyed using controllers with buttons and rotating dials to control the angle of an invisible tennis racquetโ€™s swing.

Hundreds of visitors lined up for a chance to play the electronic tennis game. And Higinbotham could not have dreamed that his game would be a forerunner to an entire industry that less than fifty years later, would account for $9.5 billion in sales in 2006 and 2007 in the U.S. alone, according to a report published by the Electronic Software Association.

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The 1998 PC Adventure game Starship Titanic began development back in 1996 while being written and designed by Douglas Adams.ย  At the end of the game, it features a cameo from Douglas himself playing the character of Leovinus who tells the player they should not bother looking for him because he claims his life's work was done and he has gone fishing.ย  It served to be somewhat prophetic after he died in 2001.

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On 9/13/2022 at 1:59 PM, Benice said:

H.P. Lovecraft was a bottom.

Aaaaaaaaah!

ย 

Pennywise is a girl and has a boyfriend!

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Probably the longest footnote in history - I'd be rather surprised if it wasn't - was written by the English clergyman John Hodgson in the 19th century. It's about 170 pages long (I've seen 165 and 173).

Hodgson was writing a history of Northumberland and, while doing field research on some long-ass stone wall, discovered a very severe mistake in long established history. It was common knowledge that this long-ass wall was built by Emperor Septimius Severus. Roman historians didn't care all that much about some wall, so they just assumed that Severus, who was campaigning in Britain a fair bit, was the builder (well, the guy ordering other guys to build it, which is practically the same, right?). This assumption had never been challenged and eventually made its way into official British history.

Until Hodgson decided to actually take a look, finding evidence that the wall turns out to be 100 years older than everybody thought. But because he was writing a History of Northumberland, and not of the Romans in Britain, he decided to put his findings into the footnote to end all footnotes.

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Franรงois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, one of the most infamous dictators, held a referendum in 1961, in which the Haitian population was to, ahem, "decide" if Duvalier's presidency would be prolongued until 1967, even though reelections were against the constitution. The result? 1'320'748 YES votes... and zero NO votes. The trick? Voters had to ask an election worker, a heavily armed election worker, for either the YES ballot or the NO ballot.

The Kennedy administration in Washington was quite incensed about this, to the point where they ended economic assistance (although Duvalier misusing large parts of it probably was a big factor, too) and withdrew their ambassador from Haiti. There is a certain irony to this - Duvalier literally got the idea from the US forces who were occupying Haiti until less then 40 years earlier, who pulled basically the same stunt with US marines in place of Duvalier's thugs: The YES ballot for a US-enforced consititution is right there, but you have to ask the heavily armed man in front of you for permission to vote NO.

However, Duvalier reconciled with the US after Kennedy was assassinated, in the way open to all fascist dictators during the cold war: By cracking down on (real and/or imaginary) communist movements in Haiti. Duvalier ruled the country until his death in 1971, with his 19 years old son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" as his successor. Earlier that year, "Papa Doc" had changed the Haitian constitution reducing the minimum age for a presidency from 40 to 20 years, evidently expecting to survive for another year or two, so "Baby Doc" had to be declared 21 years old by decree. Following in his father's footsteps, he was then elected with 2'391'916 votes to zero.

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The yakuza originated during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 - 1868) with two separate groups of outcasts. The first of those groups were the tekiya, wandering peddlers who traveled from village to village, selling low-quality goods at festivals and markets. Many tekiya belonged to the burakumin social class, a group of outcasts or "non-humans," which was actually below the four-tiered Japanese feudal social structure.ย 

In the early 1700s, the tekiya began to organize themselves into tight-knit groups under the leadership of bosses and underbosses. Reinforced by fugitives from the higher classes, the tekiya started to participate in typical organized crime activities such as turf wars and protection rackets. In a tradition that continues to this day, tekiya often served as security during Shinto festivals, and also allocated stalls in the associated fairs in return for protection money.

Between 1735 and 1749, the shogun's government sought to calm gang wars between different groups of tekiya and reduce the amount of fraud they practiced by appointing oyabun, or officially sanctioned bosses. The oyabun was allowed to use a surname and to carry a sword, an honor previously allowed only to samurai. "Oyabun" literally means "foster parent," signifying the bosses' positions as the heads of their tekiya families.

The second group that gave rise to the yakuza was the bakuto, or gamblers. Gambling was strictly forbidden during Tokugawa times and remains illegal in Japan to this day. The bakuto took to the highways, fleecing unsuspecting marks with dice games or with hanafuda card games. They often sported colorful tattoos all over their bodies, which led to the custom of full-body tattooing for modern-day yakuza. From their core business as gamblers, the bakuto branched out naturally into loan sharking and other illegal activities.

Even today, specific yakuza gangs may identify themselves as tekiya or bakuto, depending on how they make the majority of their money. They also retain rituals used by the earlier groups as part of their initiation ceremonies.

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Another interesting tidbit about Haitian/US-American relations is that the US didn't recognise Haiti as an independent country until 58 years after its independence from France, and 37 years after France itself officially acknowledged it.

The whole ordeal was honestly really frustrating and harmful for the new country. Initially, nobody recognised Haiti because they thought that the French would probably reclaim it any moment now, and they didn't want to step on their toes. Countries with a slaved-based economy also didn't want to give their own slave population any ideas by admitting that a state formed after a slave rebellion is, indeed, a legitimate state. Since the economy of the French colony, and then the early independent rulers, was based on the export of cash crops (sugar and coffee being the big ones, I believe), this was positively crippling for the country.

To make matters worse, France only offered to recognise Haiti in exchange for reparations for property lost by French citizens in Saint-Domingue/Haiti (which, yes, included freed slaves). Jean-Pierre Boyer, ruler of Haiti at that time, accepted the deal, but this pushed Haiti into a debt spiral starting with a huge loan necessary to pay the first deposit for those reparations. Most western countries followed suit and recognised the Haitian government - but very pointedly, the US did not. It took a certain disruption of the political landscape to cause (or allow) Abe Lincolm to do so in 1862.

history.state.gov, by the way, states that the US occupation of Haiti was promted by "intense political and economic disorder". Fuck off, it was promted by US bankers who were worried that Haiti wouldn't be able to pay its debt to them.

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The very first known samurai wasย Taira no Masakado. He was a powerful landowner in the Kantล region. He is regarded as the first samurai of Japan because he was the first to lead a self-governing party.ย Masakado led a rebellion in the 10th century against the government in Kyoto. He managed to conquer a few local provinces in the process and flushed with some success, proclaimed himself the new emperor and had his uncle executed. He was born in 903 A.D. and died in 940 A.D.

Taira-Masakado-colour-woodcut-Utagawa-To

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One last post about Haiti and the US:

Every single baseball that was used in MLB play between 1977 and 1990 was produced in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

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The Arizona Cardinals have the longest championship drought in the NFL, with their last title coming in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals. While the Cardinals appeared in Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, their lone Super Bowl appearance, this organization has never hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.ย 

Some believe a curse is a reason for this title drought. Back in 1925, the Cardinals faced the Pottsville Maroons in the 1925 NFL Championship game. Pottsville won the game 21-7, a win that should have secured the championship. However, they were stripped of the title and the Maroons were suspended by the NFL for playing an exhibition game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The NFL then gave the title to the Cardinals.

Of course, the Cardinals arenโ€™t the only franchise with a championship drought beyond 50 years. The Detroit Lions, are one of seven teams without a Super Bowl win. The last time the Lions won a championship came in 1957, when they defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game.

The Cleveland Guardians have the longest active championship drought in MLB, with their last World Series title coming in 1948. Cleveland reached the World Series multiple times (1954, โ€™95, โ€™97 and 2016). Ironically, the 2016 World Series loss to the Chicago Cubs snapped the longest championship drought ever, with the Cubs going 107 years without a title.

The Sacramento Kings have the longest championship drought in the NBA and one of the longest playoff droughts in American sports. Itโ€™s par for the course from a team that has battled to even reach mediocrity during its best seasons in the last two decades.

Basketball fans must go all the way back toย 1951ย to find the last Kingsโ€™ championship. Keep in mind, that happened when this franchise played in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Royals. The Royals beat the New York Knicks in seven games to win the 1951 NBA Finals.

The Phoenix Suns have the longest championship drought by a team without a single title. They are one of 11 teams without an NBA championship.

After losing in the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics have now gone 14 years without winning a title. While it certainly isnโ€™t one of the longest championship droughts in sports, the 14-year stretch is one of the longest in franchise history. Boston went 21 years without winning the NBA Finals from 1986-2007. To make matters worse, a team with 17 championships in its history has just one (2008) in nearly 40 years.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest championship drought in the NHL, a massive fall for a dynasty. From 1917-โ€™67, Toronto won the Stanley Cup finals 13 times, they still have the second-most Stanley Cup wins in NHL history.

Unfortunately, the wheels have fallen off in recent decades. The Maple Leafs have now gone 55 years without being crowned NHL champions. To make matters worse, this team isnโ€™t even coming close to the Stanley Cup finals. In fact, the last time Toronto hosted an Eastern Conference finals game came in 2002.

At least the Maple Leafs arenโ€™t totally alone. The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks are the other NHL teams to go 50-plus years without winning the Stanley Cup. Sadly for hockey fans in Philly, the Philadelphia Flyers arenโ€™t far behind. Buffaloโ€™s future is bright, but it is currently riding the longest playoff drought in NHL history with 11 consecutive seasons without an appearance in the NHL playoffs.

While the 2022 Stanley Cup finals wonโ€™t wipe out one of the longest championship droughts, a streak of 20 consecutive years without hoisting of Lord Stanleyโ€™s Cup, aka The Holy Grail of Hockey, came to an end.

The Colorado Avalanche last won the Stanley Cup in 2001. To put that 21-year drought into perspective, 28-year-old Jaromir Jagr led the NHL in points (121) during the 2000-โ€™01 regular season. The sport was also just two years removed from Wayne Gretzky retiring.

After taking down the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final, Colorado is back on top of the NHL world. Of course, the NHL playoffs werenโ€™t as kind to others. An early exit extended Torontoโ€™s futility with one of the longest championship droughts in sports. Meanwhile, the New York Rangers are now at a 27-year championship drought.

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A small part in the French revolution was played by a Russian citizen (well, holder of a Russian passport) from Venezuela, who would later become the "Precursor" to the "Liberator" Simรณn Bolรญvar: Francisco de Miranda. Miranda was first member of the Spanish military, and through that part of the American independence war. Because he made a personal deal with an English/Jamaican trader, was accused of espionage and contraband trading. When his position became more dire, he deserted and went into exile, first in the United States, later in several European states, including Russia.

There, Catherine the Great took a liking to him (most likely purely platonic, but you know how the rumour mill spins) and in order to help protect him from the Spanish inquisition, she granted him a Russian passport and instructed every Russian embassy in Europe to help Miranda, if needed. Miranda didn't stay in Russia, because he was already quite interested in seeking support for a possible Spanish American independence, and Russia wasn't in a position to provide. So Miranda left for England, where the Russian ambassador did help him escape the Spanish clutches by declaring him part of the Russian diplomatic corps.

He later moved on to France, which was in full Revolutionary mode at this point, and at war with an Austian-Prussian alliance. Miranda fell in with the Girondan faction, and served under General Dumouriez. Unfortunately for him, Dumouriez first tried to blame military defeat on Miranda, and then turned traitor (and later denounciation or not, Miranda was still part of Dumouriez's inner circle), and the Girondan faction ended up being purged and ultimately guillotined by the Jacobins. Miranda himself was imprisoned, but miraculously not executed, until he was released in 1794. Apparently, he then took part in two monarchist plots, before returning to England, where he would start to plan how to liberate Venezuela from Spanish rule.

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Theย Japanese monarchy has the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The Imperial House recognizes 126 monarchs, beginning with Emperor Jimmu (traditionally dated to 11 February 660 BC), and continuing up to the current emperor, Naruhito.ย 

images.jpg.7524c5bad1dbedce17edaca49069649f.jpgย  ย  ย  ย  ย images.jpg.53a4f17677fa14cf3f0b909d5cb3595a.jpg

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He didn't quite manage 500 miles, but a young Johann Sebastian Bach walked (yes, walked) 465 kilometres from Arnstadt to Lรผbeck in order to hear the organist Dietrich Buxtehude play.

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On 9/20/2022 at 5:59 AM, Emotional Support Himbo said:

Unfortunately, the wheels have fallen off in recent decades. The Maple Leafs have now gone 55 years without being crowned NHL champions. To make matters worse, this team isnโ€™t even coming close to the Stanley Cup finals. In fact, the last time Toronto hosted an Eastern Conference finals game came in 2002.

I admit that I love watching them stomp everybody in the regular season only to lose in the first round ofmthe playoffs every year.

ย 

Alfredo sauce is almost never used in Italian cooking.

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For those that don't know, Nintendo made trading cards from 1889 until they made the jump into the gaming industry with the Game and Watch in 1980. Although they still produceย a few Hanafuda card decks, it's far and fewย between.

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A billion means much more to most people outside of the anglosphere. It used to be the same for the British, but they eventually threw their hands up and let the Americans have their way.

--

At the start of The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins was nine years away from his Great Hundredth birthday.

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The undefeated Japanese duelist, Miyamoto Musashi, triumphed in more than sixty duels during his lifetime, many of which ended in the deaths of his opponents. His first duelย occurred in 1596, when a wandering samurai named Arima Kihei entered the region of Hirafuku, where a thirteen-year-old Musashi was living with his uncle. Kihei posted a notice that he would duel with whomever was brave enough to meet his challenge. Musashi, though only a boy with a stick, answered the challenge and faced the wandering samurai in combat. Despite all odds, the young Miyamoto Musashi knocked Arima Kihei off his feet and bludgeoned the surprised samurai to death with his stick. Musashi continued his lethal duels until 1612, when he faced the masterful nodachi swordsman, Sasaki Kojiro. After Miyamoto Musashi slew Kojiro with a long wooden swordย that was shaped from a large oar, the great duelist immediately regretted killing such a skilled warrior. He continued dueling, but he never again dueled to the death.

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