› added 4 months ago

15

TIL that in France, unwed women over 25 were called “Catherinettes” and wore garish yellow and green hats for good luck in finding husbands on November 25

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R7vP8 TIL: In 2011, new students at the Wabash College in Indiana were required to play the video game Portal as part of a course on what it means to be human. The course discussed how Portal's villain presents different versions of themselves, showing a public face, while hiding a different private face.
ZW0B TIL - The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition issued a recommendation for pregnant women to eat more fish, in direct contradiction with the FDA’s guidance. It was later discovered they received a $70k grant from National Fisheries Institute right before issuing that recommendation.
4kX05 TIL when Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1996, Jones said: "Well, what can I say in the face of such humiliating evidence? I stand guilty before the world of directing over 300 cartoons in the last 50 or 60 years. Hopefully, this means you've forgiven me."
Wk9Bd TIL that in 2008, after receiving an email from Steve-O suggesting his possible suicide, Johnny Knoxville and other friends placed Steve-O on an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold, which was later lengthened to 14 days after an apparent suicide attempt.
XE1GX TIL there are dozens of treatments more effective than the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which as a religious organization mentions God in 5 of its steps, has its own "bible", and believes that people who fail the program were born incapable of being honest with themselves.