› added 2 years ago

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TIL of Thomas Midgley, possible the unluckiest Genius ever. He developed FCKW (extremely ozone-depleting), developed leaded gasoline (very negative environmental impact) and invented a lift to help himself, weakened by polio, out of bed (he died being strangled by it).

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via reddit.com

6E6EW TIL that "right-wing" and "left-wing" labels originated from the French Revolution, in which anti-royalists sat on the left of the French National Assembly hall and pro-royalty sat on the right.
Xrwj TIL that they say “hundreds-and-thousands” instead of “sprinkles” in the U.K.
kJenB TIL Lexi Alexander based Punisher: War Zone's limited colour palate on the box of comics Marvel sent her when she signed on to direct the film. It was only later that she discovered that she'd been sent cheap, three-colour copies of the original comics to save money.
1ajo8 TIL that Mesopotamians figured out that the Earth orbited the sun about 1,700 years before Copernicus and Newton. They also figured out that the moon causes the tides and that the Earth rotates around its axis.
paN4 TIL it’s a mystery why so many bird and dinosaur fossils exhibit a ‘death pose’ - the characteristic posture consisting of head thrown back, tail extended, and mouth wide open