› added 11 years ago

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TIL that in the 80s tens of thousands of americans were infected with HIV by drugs that the manufacturers knew were tainted, but continued selling anyway, and that no one was ever criminally charged for it.

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90xM TIL that for the movie Interstellar Christopher Nolan had to grow 500 acres of corn, he later sold it and made a profit.
O8rg TIL around 1000 AD the Inca skull surgeons performed “trepanation” a procedure to relieve intracranial pressure on people with head trauma. By 1400 AD the fatality rate of the procedure was down to 10%
V4g0 TIL the marathon of the 1904 Olympics had many bizarre events including someone driving to the finish line and pretending to win, someone winning by using rat poison as a stimulant, someone taking a nap and still finishing 4th, and someone being chased a mile off course by aggressive dogs.
oB6mr TIL that the Yellow Sam betting coup was a successful betting scheme played out at an Irish racetrack in 1975. The elaborate operation was eventually deemed legal, netting over 300K Irish pounds for Barney Curley and his team. Angry bookies paid out in over 100 bags of single bills.
6EjEJ TIL that Kennett Square, a small area in Pennsylvania, grows 50% of the countries mushrooms, and has been named the mushroom capital of the world