› added 2 years ago

54

TIL dyslexic World Memory Champion Dominic O’ Brien set a Guinness World Record by memorizing 2808 playing cards (54 packs) after looking at each card only once. He made only 8 errors.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

R799w TIL that H1N1, the influenza strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, survived another 40+ years as a seasonal flu bug. It was finally “extinguished” by another flu virus, H2N2, in the 1957 flu pandemic. Even so, a “new” H1N1 emerged 50 years later to cause the 2009 “swine flu” pandemic.
JAdQ TIL of Adrian Schoolcraft, ex NYPD officer who recorded corruption,wrongdoings and police abuse in the NYPD. He submitted it to investigators and ended up reassigned to a desk job, got abducted from his house and thrown in a psychiatric facility against his will and fired. His family got the bill.
nWVl7 TIL the Arabic numerals were actually invented by the Hindus. Arabs got the credit as they invaded India, saw the usefulness of their writings, adopted it and were the ones to spread it to the world
lJMK TIL in 1995 drug giant GlaxoSmithKline gathered over one hundred black and hispanic orphans, including toddlers and babies, to test the “toxicity” of their AIDS medication on them. They continued to do this for nearly ten years.
OGDvY TIL on May 28th, 1993, a mysterious seismic disturbance was detected in Western Australia. Theories for what caused it include an asteroid impact (crater wasn't found), mining explosion (much too powerful), earthquake (uncharacteristic), and a nuclear test by a Japanese doomsday cult.