› added 1 year ago

78

TIL that scientists discovered a species of virus that infects a bacteria found on the surface sediment of the Mariana Trench at 8,900m

Read more journals.asm.org

via reddit.com

ADR5o TIL that the last execution by guillotine in France took place in 1977.
4Mx5 TIL during prohibition in the US, merchants sold “bricks” of grape concentrate with a packet of dried yeast. These would come with a “warning label” cautioning not to mix the brick, yeast, water and sugar in a pot and then seal it for seven days, or else “an illegal alcoholic beverage will result”.
VMgR8 TIL that 'Moron', 'Idiot', and 'Imbecile' were once valid Psychology terms for people with low IQ. When these terms entered vernacular usage as insults, they were disused in favor of 'Mental Retardation' which in turn was disused in favor of 'Intellectual Disability'.
1a7vX TIL The Rocky Horror Picture Show has had the longest-running theatrical release in film history (Since 1975)
yVLQJ TIL that in 1979, Elf, a French oil compagny, lost over $150 million in a scam. Alain de Villegas, a Belgian Count, had led ELF officials to believe that a company had created a machine capable of detecting oil fields from the air. The scandal is known as the "Avions Renifleurs" ("Sniffer Planes").