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History Today: How a side project in 2006 became Twitter and eventually X
Twitter had a big role in influencing politics and culture in the early 21st century. Reuters/File Photo
On July 15, 2006, Twitter (now called X) became available to the public. Over the next ten years, the platform grew to have more than 300 million users.
The online microblogging site was launched by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone.
Also on this day in 1997, Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered by serial killer Andrew Cunanan.
As part of Firstpost Explainers' History Today series, here's a look at what happened on July 15:
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Twitter was launched
On this day in 2006, Twitter, now called X, was launched as Odeo's side project that let users send short status updates to groups of friends by texting a single number.
In the years that followed, Twttr became Twitter, and the simple idea of 'microblogging' quickly gained popularity.
It went on to become one of the top social media platforms in the world.
The online microblogging site was launched by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Reuters/File Photo
Notably, Jack Dorsey came up with the idea of letting people send personal updates through SMS to groups.
Six months after the launch, Twttr became Twitter. When it was made public, its creators added a 140-character limit to messages, which matched the standard length of a text message at the time.
This was later changed to 280 characters.
By 2013, the New York Times reported that Twitter had more than 2,000 staff members and over 200 million active users. In November that year, the company went public with a value of just over $31 billion.
Twitter had a big role in influencing politics and culture in the early 21st century.
In April 2022, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed plans for Twitter to merge with one of Elon Musk's companies, X Holdings.
After Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, he began the process of merging it with X and changing its brand.
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Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022. Reuters/File Photo
The merger with X Corp. was completed in April 2023.
In a court document filed in California in early April 2023, it was stated that Twitter, as a company, 'no longer exists.'
Gianni Versace was killed
On this day in 1997, world-famous Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot and killed by Andrew Cunanan outside his mansion in Miami.
Versace was hit twice in the head, and Cunanan ran away from the scene.
Notably, Cunanan had no past criminal record before he began a string of killings in Minneapolis in the spring of 1997.
With the FBI already searching for him, Cunanan travelled to Miami Beach. On July 11, a fast-food worker recognised him, but police got there too late.
Four days later, he shot Versace dead outside his South Beach home.
World-famous Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot in 1997. AFP/File Photo
Both Cunanan and Versace were openly gay and moved in similar social groups, but police found no proof they had ever met.
Versace's murder led to a major manhunt for Cunanan, who was known for changing his look in every photo.
On July 23, the search ended just 40 blocks from Versace's mansion, on a houseboat that Cunanan had broken into.
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There, police found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. The weapon matched the one used in two other killings.
He did not leave a note.
This Day, That Year
1916: The Boeing Company, first named Pacific Aero Products Co., was set up in Seattle.
1971: Former US President Richard Nixon said he would visit communist China the next year. This was a major shift in US-China ties.
1996: American news channel MSNBC was launched by Microsoft and NBC, part of General Electric.
2020: George Floyd's family filed a case against the city of Minneapolis and the four police officers charged in his death, saying the officers violated his rights and that the city had allowed a culture of force, racism and lack of accountability in its police force.

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First Post
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- First Post
Milking it: How mothers in US, UK are making around Rs 69,000 a day selling breast milk
It's the ultimate side hustle. Many women in the United States and the United Kingdom are selling their breast milk at a premium after seeing a demand for it in the market. And they are raking in the moolah — some earn Rs 69,000 to Rs 86,000 a day, depending on how much they can pump read more Many women in the US and UK are selling their breast milk online and raking in the moolah. Representational image/Reuters We all know about side hustles and moonlighting. Across the world, people are taking up side hustles to make an extra buck. But there are many who are quite literally milking their side hustles. What are we talking about? We are talking about a growing number of new mothers in the United States as well as the United Kingdom who are doing just that: stockpiling their breast milk, selling it online, and cashing in big time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And this milk business is no small joke — some of these 'mammas' are minting over $1,000 (Rs 86,628) a day in profit by selling their naturally available milk to other women and in some cases even bodybuilders, who believe that breast milk is the best to pump those biceps up. Mammas' big milk businesses Meet Keira Williams, a 31-year-old NICU nurse from Atlanta in the US. She started selling her breast milk in May and since then sold more than 103 litres of it. And the money she has made from the business? She told the New York Post, 'I have made $800 (Rs 69,302) in just one day.' She further noted in the same report that she began this business by using Facebook groups to make connections. But Williams isn't alone. Thirty-three-year-old Emily Enger, a teacher from Minnesota, is also in the breast milk business. She started selling her milk when she noticed a lot of social pressure about breastfeeding, telling The Times, 'I feel like we started hearing about the positives of breastfeeding and I was like, OK, let's do this.' Most of the women who are selling their breast milk are doing it to make extra money. Representational image/AFP Today, Enger has been able to make $1,000 or more depending on how much she pumps. 'At first I thought 'I have this milk sitting there in the freezer, I might as well just give it away',' Enger told The Times. 'But then I thought, well you go to the store and you buy a gallon of milk or you go to the store and you buy formula. You can't go into a hair salon, for example, and expect a free haircut. Time and, literally, energy has gone into producing milk. That should be valued.' And the trend of selling breast milk isn't just restricted to the US. In the UK too, many new moms are bagging and selling their breast milk for a premium. A woman, who identified as just Emily in a Daily Mail report, said of her job, 'I'm a stay-at-home mum due to childcare expenses, and having worked in childcare myself and being on minimum wage I would have barely even had enough money after paying childcare costs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'If men or women are willing to pay me to use my breast milk, which is great for everyone, contains amazing properties that are beneficial for all ages, then I would definitely just make some money from what I produce for free.' Another said that she sells her milk so that she can stay longer at home without losing sleep over losing her salary. 'I'm selling my extra breast milk because it's extra money that may help to fund one to two months extra after my maternity pay ends.' Breastfeeding movement — the fuel behind it But what's the reason these women are willing to pump, bag and sell their breast milk. While many of them are doing it for extra money, they note that there's been a rise in breast milk owing to the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement powered by Robert F Kennedy Jr. The US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has ordered an investigation on baby formula in the US, owing to which many new mothers to rethink what they are feeding their young and, in turn, cause a growth in demand for their breast milk. On TikTok and other social media platform, a lot of discussion is on 'breast is best' in which mothers, and experts espouse the benefits of breast milk over everything else. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There are a lot of discussions online emphasising the benefits of breast milk for babies that has put led women to sell their breast milk online. Representational image/AFP This has put a lot of pressure on those who are unable to produce enough milk or who are undergoing treatments during lactation. For instance, there's a Facebook group called Breastmilk Community for All, which has 33,000 members. It is full of appeals from mothers who say they would rather their child have a stranger's milk than store-bought formula. 'It was always my plan to breastfeed but I take medication that makes it unsafe,' Briana Westland, a member from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who spends around $1,200 a month to buy breast milk, told The Times. 'Obviously fed is best but you can't beat the nutritional quality of human milk, no matter what anyone says.' The ultimate pump But it's not just mothers who are wanting to buy breast milk. Much of the demand comes from bodybuilders, who hail it to be a 'super food' of sorts — perfect for pumping up their muscles. Referred to as 'liquid gold,' many bodybuilders note that breast milk has all the nutrients in order to achieve muscle gains and get into shape. 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Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Chinese consumer complaints show widespread padding of car sales figures
A tactic used by Chinese automakers and dealers to inflate car sales has grown increasingly common in recent years in response to a bruising price war in the world's largest auto market, a Reuters analysis of consumer complaints has found. Earlier this month, Reuters reported EV brands Neta and Zeekr had arranged for cars to be insured before buyers purchased them, a scheme that effectively inflates sales numbers and gives the appearance the companies were hitting periodic targets. But the controversial tactic was not limited to the two companies and was employed elsewhere in the industry, according to a Reuters review of 97 separate consumer complaints published on three widely used Chinese websites. In more than a dozen cases, buyers said they were informed by dealerships that the practice was specifically designed to meet sales targets. 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Wholesale figures reported by automakers to the industry association show sales from automakers to dealers, while retail data compiled from mandatory traffic insurance registrations show the number of sales to users. Accusations of selling cars with existing insurance policies date back to 2016 when a Cadillac buyer told a regional radio programme he found the car was insured before his purchase. The practice appears to have picked up after the price war started in early 2023, when several brands led by Li Auto started posting weekly sales rankings on social media based on insurance registrations. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has criticised such postings as unreliable and this month blamed them for intensifying "vicious" competition.
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Business Standard
19 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Starlink to have 2 mn customers in India, offer 200 mbps speed: MoS Telecom
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