› added 6 years ago

96

TIL that in 1955, evangelist Jack Coe claimed to have divinely healed a three-year-old of polio and told the boy's parents to remove his leg braces. This caused the boy constant pain, but Coe never faced jail time as medical malpractice did not cover divine healing. The next year, Coe died of polio.

1aY97 TIL that in 1924, a tunnel network was discovered underneath Washington D.C. Speculation behind the network's origins included a Confederate hideout or a liquor depot for bootleggers; they were actually dug by the Smithsonian Institute's entomologist Harrison G. Dyar, who 'did it for exercise'.
OoN94 TIL The chief of security of the company hired to organize and promote McDonald's giveaways, stole almost all of the top prizes between 1995 and 2000. The scam netted over $24 million. The trial began on September 10, 2001, but was overshadowed in the media by the September 11 attacks.
yQd8v TIL about "Bald–Hairy" a Russian political joke based on the observation that the nation's presidents consistently alternate hair types (ie Lenin was bald, Stalin had hair, Khruschev was bald, Brezhnev had hair.)
69yLl TIL Folk/blues singer Lead Belly recorded the first known usage of the term "stay woke". He used the term in the song Scottsboro Boys to warn black audiences about lynch mobs in Alabama.
oQar TIL that Winfield Scott (1786-1866) served as a active duty general for 53 years, longer than anyone in American history. He entered service under Thomas Jefferson and retired under Abraham Lincoln.