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_number8_@lemmy.world to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 years ago

TIL in May 1864 the first record of electronic spam was sent by a dentist in London

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TIL in May 1864 the first record of electronic spam was sent by a dentist in London

lemmy.world

_number8_@lemmy.world to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 years ago
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  • BananaTrifleViolin@kbin.social
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    2 years ago

    Or was this the first example of gurilla paid advertisement in the comments section? “How do I advertise my dental practice? I know I’ll pretend I was disturbed by a telegram and they shall print my complaint! And it shall goeth viraleth”

    • Steve@startrek.website
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      2 years ago

      Almost certainly.

      • variants@possumpat.io
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        2 years ago

        indubitably

  • lettruthout@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Was expecting something like: “We’ve been trying to reach you about your horse and buggy warranty.”

    • drolex@sopuli.xyz
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      2 years ago

      In June 1864, everyone in London was receiving telegrams about grieving widows looking for company in the neighbourhood.

      • unconsciousvoidling@sh.itjust.works
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        2 years ago

        Hot widows in your area are bored with using candlesticks and require a gentleman.

        • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org
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          2 years ago

          Hot rich widows in the countryside await your acquaintance. “Triflers need not apply.”

    • BreadstickNinja@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Those vehicle warranty ads are so insidious. The ones I get use packaging that’s typically reserved for official government mailers and sometimes include the name of a govt agency that has nothing to do with them.

      Whenever I throw one out I imagine how many elderly people must be mistaking them for govt business and getting fleeced out of their money.

  • Rooty@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Mr. Gabriel sure got his money’s worth from his telegram, since we’re still circulating it 159 years later.

    • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Yeah i went down there today, but they weren’t in professional attendance (presumably because it is now October)

      • El Barto@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Four stars. Will change to five stars when they open.

  • burningmatches@feddit.uk
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    2 years ago

    27 Harley Street is now an ear, nose and throat specialist with a reputation for treating people who can’t burp.

    https://maps.app.goo.gl/Nyc9bEz6Q9Y3FPx48?g_st=ic

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Probably still disturbing people using the intolerable nuisance known as “telegrams.”

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        2 years ago

        I don’t even have telegram installed.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      2 years ago

      So they’ve gone out of business. It looks like the advertising campaign didn’t work then

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        Sounds like something out of r/writing prompts.

        A wizard makes a deal to live forever. The cost he must pay is 100 healthy human teeth every year…

    • Sylvartas@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I would love to be able to burp, but a Botox injection in the neck/throat ? Nah I think I’ll pass

  • AstralWeekends@lemm.ee
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    2 years ago

    Unsubscribe me at once, you scoundrels!

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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    Imagine how much better the world could have been if the editor of The Times had taken the time to have a quick word with a dentist in 1864!

  • ubermeisters@lemmy.world
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    deleted by creator

    • casmael@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      Merely colloquial and of the time your grace

      • AntifaNI@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Spam by telegram and get free ad in national newspaper ?

        • Rhaedas@kbin.social
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          2 years ago

          Sign of a professional.

    • prayer@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Literally just how people ended letters in 1864. It’s like seeing someone say “bless you” to a sneeze and scoffing at it.

    • Microw@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      Ah, someone hasn’t seen Hamilton?

      • ubermeisters@lemmy.world
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        deleted by creator

        • seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org
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          Hamilton isn’t a movie.

          • ubermeisters@lemmy.world
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            deleted by creator

            • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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              2 years ago

              I like how every single reply of yours so far makes you seem like a bigger tool. It’s aspirational.

              • ubermeisters@lemmy.world
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                deleted by creator

                • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                  2 years ago

                  What you think of me is for you to think

                  Big if true

                • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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                  I also think you’re a tool if it helps. Or indeed if it does not.

                  I hope it doesn’t, this is fun.

  • magnetosphere@kbin.social
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    2 years ago

    If I remember correctly, weren’t telegrams fairly expensive back in the day? Did the dentist get some kind of “bulk discount”?

    • variants@possumpat.io
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      how old are you?

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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    Wow, there are actually still medical offices there.

    • SomeoneElse
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      Harley street is the most famous place in the country for (private) medical practices. Today there’s thousand of people employed in one type of medical job or another there.

      • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Neat.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          Notice seems to be where all the cryopreservatory places are. Because if you’re going to be stolen liquid nitrogen after death I suppose you should do it somewhere ritzy.

  • Spaghetti_Hitchens@kbin.social
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    Forget going back in time to kill baby Hitler… Let’s get the dentist instead.

  • casmael@lemm.ee
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    Bring back telegrams tbh

    • IninewCrow
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      Good day sir … here is your daily wheel barrow load of telegrams.

      I believe I saw a message from your mother in there.

      Til the morrow with my next wheel barrow.

    • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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      They’re still around in most of the world. If you wanna spend 20 bucks on a telegram that could have easily been a free email, go for it

      • El Barto@lemmy.world
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        Come to think of it, email is a form of telegram, since it’s translated to 1’s and 0’s, or dots and dashes…??

    • Hubi@feddit.de
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      The German Post just discontinued their service two years ago :(

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      deleted by creator

  • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    It wasn’t electronic since he clearly says “placed into my hands”.

    • El Barto@lemmy.world
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      When you read spam in your phone, the message is in your hands!!

      Checkmate, atheïst!

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