› added 6 years ago

146

TIL During WW2, a German air raid in Bari, Italy hit the US Navy's SS John Harvey and 1000 people were exposed to the secret cargo of 2,000 mustard gas bombs. Doctors observed that the mustard gas destroyed the white blood cells of the victims. This discovery led to the development of chemotherapy.

Read more the-scientist.com

via reddit.com

9Yx5M TIL that, in 1962, a B-52 bomber broke apart over North Carolina, sending Atomic Bombs hurtling to earth. All the failsafes on one warhead failed except a single switch which remained intact, saving the US from nuclear disaster.
7rJ7Z TIL the Stasi, East Germany's secret police force, employed around 90,000 full-time staff, assisted by around 170,000 unofficial informants and countless other occasional collaborators. It is estimated that there was one agent or informant for every 6.5 people living in the GDR.
4X7L5 TIL The Horror film "Unfriended", on the theme of cyberbullying is told almost entirely through a screencast of a MacBook. Production was 16 days total and at least one full, 80-minute-long take was filmed, with each actor in separate rooms with separate computers
grBZX TIL: That the movie 'The Terminal' was partially inspired by the true story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who frequented terminal 1 in Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years. Nasseri would spend his days writing his journal, listening to the radio, smoking his gold pipe or eating meals at McDonald's.
xdXk TIL eight of the fourteen vacines that are routinely recommended today were developed by an American microbiologist named Maurice Hilleman.