› added 7 years ago

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TIL In the 1960s, the sugar industry paid three Harvard scientists $50,000 to say that heart disease was most likely caused by saturated fat. After their report was published in JAMA, diets concentrating on low fat gained the endorsement of many health authorities.

MemgV TIL that in 1940, the Nazis sent 12 spies to Britain to pave the way for an invasion. However, the plan failed due to the ineptitude of the agents. None of them were that fluent in English and they lacked basic knowledge of British customs.
jGyp TIL Ellen Pao’s husband Buddy Fletcher is a former hedge fund manager, but his fund went bankrupt after Fletcher and associates diverted investor funds for their own personal benefit, causing the loss millions of $$$ to Louisiana pensioners. He is now under investigation for civil fraud.
OXrR TIL An Irish mummified corpse from 392 - 201 BC was so perfectly preserved in a peat bog that archaeologists could tell that he used “hair gel”; his hair contained a substance made from vegetable oil mixed with resin from pine trees found in Spain/France, proving that imports/trade was done.
l75DV TIL walking into a spider's web is considered a good omen in Thailand, and means you'll meet a new friend. In Japan it means meeting a new friend the very same day.
yXWe TIL that Stephen Hawking’s second wife, who was also his nurse, was rumored to have physically and mentally abused him, including refusing him access to a urine bottle so he would be forced to wet himself.