› added 7 years ago

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TIL Barnum's American Museum had crowds that would linger inside too long. To make way for new paying guests, signs saying "This Way to the Egress" were put up. Not knowing Egress was another word for Exit, people followed the signs to what they assumed was a fascinating exhibit but ended up outside

wgaY TIL that in 1382, a French bookseller named Nicholas Flamel claimed to have transformed lead into gold after decoding an ancient book of alchemy. True or not, historical records show that Flamel did come into considerable wealth around this time, and donated his riches to charity.
VB4VG TIL that helicopters don’t just fall like a rock if the engine fails, they can perform something called “autorotation,” where the rotor blades keep spinning due to air rushing up through them as the helicopter falls
1agjV TIL When 5 experts were given fingerprints that, unbeknownst to them, they had deemed a “match” earlier in their career, and told that these were from a suspect of the Madrid train bombings, 4 of the 5 experts now said that they didn't match, suggesting their judgement is affected by the context.
kONE7 TIL In early days of penicillin, it was so expensive it was extracted from patients urine and reused on other patients.
loWk7 TIL Bernard Fisher established definitively that early-stage breast cancer is more effectively treated by lumpectomy, in combination with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and/or hormonal therapy, than by radical mastectomy which had been standard for over 75 years.