› added 3 months ago

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TIL There were experiments conducted in the 1950s where researchers gave their subjects manual control over the pleasure centers of their brains through the click of a button, wired to surgically implanted electrodes.

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9wP4m TIL Cobalt is named after kobolds (tricksy, sometimes malevolent spirits): the ore was called goblin/kobold ore due to giving off poisonous arsenic fumes when smelted.
VMWnp TIL - Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson was killed by friendly fire during the Civil War.
6mJ8 TIL that Guyana is the only South American country that isn’t part of Latin America because it’s official language is not Spanish, French or Portuguese.
JYYrv TIL for several hundred years the Catholic Church cited a document (the Donation of Constantine) claiming Emperor Constantine bestowed vast territory and spiritual and temporal power on the Pope. It was clearly demonstrated to be a forgery in the 1400s
4XDEa TIL in 1948 Lyndon B Johnson used a helicopter to campaign for office. He would hover over farmers working in their fields, many who had never seen a helicopter, and blare through the loudspeaker: "Hello, down there! This is your friend, Lyndon Johnson, your candidate for the United States Senate."