› added 9 years ago

89

TIL that there’s a festival in Japan called Kanamara Matsuri where a huge statue of penis is carried through the streets of Kawasaki. This parade is for promoting awareness about STD’s and celebrating fertility, long marriages and healthy births.

Read more reddit.com

via reddit.com

YrWW TIL that Henri Nestle invented his breast milk substitute to help Europe’s high infant mortality rates. Today, Nestle abuse their market power to get African mothers hooked on their products.
m1mBy TIL the final televised tobacco ad in the US was shown at the last moment legally possible during the Tonight Show
E11Wd TIL about prince rupert's drop - quick cooled glass beads that survived up to 20 tons of pressure.
4Do6 TIL that during the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet forces held a single apartment building for 60 days against daily German assaults. The building was transformed into a fortress, with 4 layers of barbed wire, minefields, and a machinegun in nearly every window.
aONA TIL Erwin Rommel humanely treated captured soldiers, ignored orders to kill Jews, civilians and conspired to assassinate Hitler. After his death soldiers on both sides pay respect to his grave and he is the only member of The Third Reich to have a museum dedicated to him.