› added 3 years ago

94

TIL in 1839, Charles Goodyear accidentally invented Vulcanization when he dropped some rubber in a flying pan

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OKp6 TIL Although a staunch and faithful Christian, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Coretta Scott King was an early advocate for Gay Rights. King even fought for the Civil Rights Act to include LGBT citizens as a protected class
aVZZ TIL Dr. Bernice Eddy warned the NIH that the polio vaccines they were about to release contained live polio virus. They ignored her and released the vaccine anyway, and as a result 40,000 children developed polio. The NIH director who dismissed Dr. Eddy then resigned.
4kyA5 TIL that Nintendo character Mario was named after a real life businessman, Mario Segale. When the company fell behind on rent, Segale gave them a second chance to come up with the money. Nintendo paid their debt and named their flagship character after him.
b6eo4 TIL that California’s Central Valley has sunk by up to 28 feet since the 1920s due to groundwater pumping. Some parts of the valley are still sinking by up to 2 feet per year.
5YDG9 TIL six-month old infants recognize when adults imitate them, and perceive imitators as more friendly. The babies looked and smiled longer at an adult who imitated them, as opposed to when the adult responded in other ways and approached them on their own.