› added 5 years ago

376

TIL the lazy cops-donuts stereotype was the exact opposite of its origin: cops used to frequent donut shops in the past because they need to have work done and donut shops were the only ones that are open really early in the morning (to prepare for the breakfast rush).

vPY1R TIL A 2004 British reality show selected nine contestants for their suggestibility, tricked them into thinking they were flown to Russia, then had them compete to become space tourists. The "winners" were placed on a simulator and tricked into thinking they were in space for five days.
R50Z1 TIL that English speakers proposed abbreviating Coordinated Universal Time as CUT. French speakers proposed abbreviating it as TUC (for "temps universel coordonné"). Neither side got what they wanted, as the official abbreviation is "UTC".
5VdnP TIL about the Dancing Plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, France. Hundreds of people took to the streets dancing for days without rest, and over the period, some of those affected collapsed or even died of heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion.
QJpY6 TIL that Europeans in the 17th century once thought they could heal themselves by consuming human corpses. The remains were considered medicinal because they were believed to contain the spirit of the body they were taken from. Bone powder, human fat, and fresh, warm blood were in high demand.
PYXpw TIL Mount Rushmore was supposed to be a sculpture of each president from head to waist but it ran out of funding so only the heads were finished