› added 7 years ago

130

TIL the "Mad Hatter" character in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is never actually called "Mad Hatter" in the book, but just "Hatter". Instead, "Mad Hatter" is a supervillain in DC Comics with a very similar appearance.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

9wDNQ TIL in 1976 groundskeeper Richard Arndt caught Hank Aaron's 755th home run ball & tried to return it to Aaron but was told he's unavailable. The next day the Brewers fired Arndt for stealing team property (the ball) & deducted $5 from his final paycheck. In 1999, he sold it at auction for $625,000.
YpMB7 TIL that when Freud left Austria, he was required to sign a document testifying that he had had every opportunity 'to live and work in full freedom' and had 'not the slightest reason for any complaint'. He signed it, adding a remark of his own: 'I can most highly recommend the Gestapo to anyone.'
xZr1 TIL that U.S. President Thomas Jefferson was also: a lawyer, an architect, president of the American Philosophical Society, a speaker of 5 languages, founder of the Univ. of VA., inventor of the swivel chair, and author to what is considered the most important American book published before 1800.
n8od TIL that prior to 1993 the FDA banned women from participating in clinical trials. This resulted in a dangerous lack of awareness about how certain drugs impacted women and has led to misunderstandings about how certain diseases affect men and women differently that persist today.
nwWo TIL that during the planning for NASA’s moon landings of the 1960s, it was suggested that the United Nations flag be used instead of the U.S. flag