› added 13 years ago

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TIL that people started flipping one cigarette upside down in their packs because of a myth that early ‘Lucky Strikes’ contained marijuana.

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via reddit.com

WkEkL TIL that Voodoo Donut in Portland, Oregon used to serve a donut drizzled in Nyquil and then had a shot of Nyquil in a cup in the center of the donut - until the FDA stepped in & made them stop serving it.
wlZM TIL that in 1974 a US soldier stole a helicopter and flew to the White House in Washington, D.C. As he hovered above the south grounds, the Executive Protective Service shot and injured him, forcing him to land. He only received a one-year prison sentence and $2,400 in fines.
XElAE TIL Gloria Ramirez died of cancer in the ER. Then 23 of the 37 staff became mysteriously ill which the hospital attributed to mass hysteria. An investigation concluded that Gloria's blood drawn and cooled in the ER broke down to dimethyl sulfate and vaporized, causing their illnesses.
ANDvx TIL about Will & William West, two felons who looked visually similar and even had similar anthropomorphic measurements. Officials needed fingerprints to “prove” they were different people. While mugshots still persist, most body measures have given way to fingerprints.
MJdm TIL of Jerningham Wakefield, a New Zealand politician who was such a notorious drunk, his friends would lock him in Parliament overnight to keep him sober enough to vote the next day. However, this failed in 1872 when his political enemies began lowering bottles of whisky down the chimney.