› added 10 years ago

63

TIL on this day in 1907 a Mexican railroad brakeman named Jesus Garcia saved the entire town of Nacozari, Sonora by singlehandedly driving a damaged and burning train containing dynamite six kilometers away from the town before it finally exploded, killing him

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

1a558 TIL Chipmunks and other small rodents have fast reaction time because they process light faster. They see the world in slow motion.
oRNg7 TIL that the famous author Thomas Pynchon has avoided publicity during his fifty-year career to the point that almost all known photos of him are from the 1950s. However, he voiced himself in two episodes of The Simpsons, where his dialogue consisted entirely of puns on the titles of his books.
l7oYV TIL the elephant clock was invented by a 13th century guy called Ismail al Jazzari. This invention was a weight powered water clock in the form of an asian elephant. An elephant driver automaton striked the cymbal and a mechanical bird chirped at a specific time.
p8By8 TIL in 1955, Jack Graham placed a bomb in his mother's suitcase in order to collect on insurance he purchased moment before her flight. The blast killed her and 43 other people on the plane
6vrY TIL you are most likely to survive a trip to ICU with a severe infection in NZ and Australia than anywhere else in the world, despite an increase in the severity of infections. This is partially due to the fact that all patients have 24-hour one-on-one nursing.