› added 11 years ago

104

TIL, in China, before it there was a vaccine, smallpox scabs were ground up and blown up the noses of healthy people in order to immunize them.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

x6eJD TIL That the character who first said the phrase "fortune favours the bold" - Turnus, in the Aeneid, spends the rest of the story suffering military defeats before he's killed and heads to the underworld, miserable, at the end of the last book.
78Zdx TIL the Canfranc Railway Station linking France with Spain was the second largest station in Europe at 240 meters in length when completed in 1928. It was a hub for trafficking of spies, refugees (including artists Ernst and Chagal), and more than 100 tons of gold during WW2.
MeoBm TIL Subway spent $22M in 2007 keeping shows Chuck and Community on air, giving them creative freedom as long as they showed their subs. The creator of Community decided to show Subway any chance he could. The Chief Marketing Officer of Subway at the time said they "experienced double digit gains".
gREX TIL in Fairbanks, Alaska it is illegal for a moose to enter a saloon (via the sidewalk). This law was created to try to stop a local tavern keeper from getting his pet moose drunk and prevent the moose’s frequent drunken rampages.
LLDv TIL that Apollo 11, 14 and 15 missions have left mirrors on the surface of the Moon to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Moon by aiming a laser at them. Scientists have confirmed that the Moon is spiraling away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm per year.