› added 4 years ago

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TIL people were still using the phrase 'abracadabra' in the late 1600s to try to ward off the plague in London

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vPmk4 TIL playing Tetris after a traumatic event can help reduce PTSD symptoms
wxZM TIL while writing Hot Fuzz Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright referred to the supermarket manager, Simon Skinner as being played by a “Timothy Dalton type” actor before thinking to ask Dalton himself to be in the film. To their surprise Dalton had loved Shaun of the Dead and signed on for the role.
vPBaL TIL the peace sign consists of the semaphore signs for N and D, for Nuclear Disarmament - designed by Gerard Holtom for the 1958 British Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament. How did I not know that?
8B4a TIL autistic savant Daniel Tammet learned Icelandic in just one week, and then went through a live interview on national TV in the language
Yppyr TIL in 2009 Airmen Colton Read went in for gallbladder surgery and woke up with both legs amputated. Military doctors punctured his aorta and waited 8.5 hours to get him proper medical care. Read isn't legally allowed to sue for damages.