Post * 8rAG — Curious Curator

› added 9 years ago

121

TIL that Pope Leo XIII 1810-1902 endorsed a popular wine that had 6 to 7.2 mg of cocaine per ounce. He was purported to have carried a hipflask of it with him and he awarded a gold medal to the French chemist who concocted it.

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PY97G TIL in 2008 due to the recession Japanese workers could go to a shop called 'The Venting Place' in Tokyo and buy plates to smash against a wall to release anger. "You can get three small dishes for 500 yen, a medium sized plate for 500 yen, a big platter for 1000 yen"

epdak TIL that the French Navy has trained dolphins to detect underwater mines and enemy divers since the 1960s. The French Navy’s Marine Mammal Program involves training dolphins for underwater detection tasks, similar to the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program.

Oogn6 TIL That a Japanese company will quit your job . . . for you; for about $450.

YpLmd TIL plague doctors often were not real physicians. They rarely treated patients and instead kept a record of those who were contaminated for demographic purposes. Occasionally they would sell false cures to the sick.

x6APB TIL: North Korea had a covert cargo ship named the Chong Chon Gang, which was a front to conduct illicit activities around the world such as smuggling. It was chased by pirates in 2009, detained by Ukraine and Egypt in 2010, and seized by Panama in 2013. The NK gov paid $700k to release it.