› added 5 years ago

191

TIL that that the iconic head character of Nintendo, Mario, was name after Mario Segale. A man who's kindness allowed a Nintendo warehouse to get back on its feet. Thereby going on to create the red and blue character we all know and love!

Read more cnbc.com

via reddit.com

n7DB TIL Theodor Seuss Geisel was caught drinking gin with 9 friends in college during Prohibition and was asked to resign from all extracurricular activities. To continue working on his college’s humor magazine he used the pen name “Suess”, which later became “Dr. Suess”.
9nEQ TIL that a convent of nuns in the Middle Ages began to meow like cats and others followed until all would meow together at a certain time for several hours together. This continued until the surrounding village called soldiers to force the nuns to stop their meowing.
eprgk TIL about HeroRATS, southern giant pouched rats that are trained to detect and indicate landmine locations. They are trained by non-profit APOPO. They also have rats who are trained to detect tuberculosis.
wxYE TIL Heroin was made popular in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company. They advertised Heroin as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough suppressant.
8ax98 TIL about Gulf War Illness: Over 1/3 of the veterans that served in the Gulf War experience the same horrendous symptoms, all caused by chemicals the US chose to expose them to. 7,424 of 7,845 claims of GW veterans were denied between 1994 and 1996 - and it's still hard for them to get a diagnosis.