› added 9 years ago

111

TIL that no one, including an expert Belgian botanist, could find a method of pollination of vanilla to make it viable for cultivation outside of South America… until a 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius discovered it could be hand-pollinated. This led to the global cultivation of the plant.

Read more silvercloudestates.com

via reddit.com

Y5aP TIL: In 1849, a woman named Mrs. Charlotte M. Winslow concocted a pain reliever for teething children called Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, which contained morphine sulphate, sodium carbonate, spirits foeniculiand, and aqua ammonia. Shockingly, the syrup remained in the market until 1930.
kmB7 TIL that in 2006, Guy Goma showed up at the BBC for a job interview as a computer technician. He was mistaken for Guy Kewney, a computer expert, and put on live TV to discuss a judicial verdict. Despite his amazing performance faking his way through the segment, he did not get the job.
5VdG8 TIL that Smash Mouth's "I'm A Believer" only hit #25 on the Hot 100, and "Walkin' On The Sun" was ineligible as it was never released as a physical single in the US. Their biggest hit after "All Star" was the #11 hit "Then The Morning Comes".
7daM TIL that after a 1946 plane crash, Howard Hughes decided he did not like the design of the hospital bed he was laying in. He called in his engineers and had them design a new bed that would allow someone with severe burns to move freely. It became the prototype for the modern hospital bed.
wNmo TIL of silent discos, also known as silent raves. These are dance parties where all of the participants are wearing headphones to hear the music. Those not wearing them experience silence, and people seemingly dancing to nothing.