Post * KGx6 — Curious Curator

› added 10 years ago

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TIL John Oliver has full creative freedom over Last Week Tonight, including free reign to criticize corporations, thanks to HBO’s ad-free subscription model

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g5Yy TIL Orson Welles’ radio adaptation of “War of the Worlds” never actually caused a mass panic in 1938. This rumor was created by newspaper journalists in an attempt to discredit radio as a medium because they felt threatened by it.

OGAye TIL Prior to setting the 1964 and 1965 land speed records, Art Arfons bought a jet engine from a F-104 Starfighter from a scrap dealer for $600. He successfully fixed the engine and tested it by tying it to trees in his garden, despite objections from the government and his neighbors

7xmZ TIL that during the American Revolutionary War, despite opposition from the Continental Congress, George Washington ordered the vaccination of 40,000 soldiers from smallpox, reducing the infection rate from 17% to 1%

yVVWV TIL that placebos have been found to be an effective treatment for pain perception. A placebo treatment given to people who chronically suffer from migraine headaches was found to be just as effective as a widely used migraine drug, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine.

x6Oj5 TIL of the “Squeeze”, which was a type of accident in the early days of diving where a catastrophic loss of pressure in the diving suit of the diver. The immense pressure would suck the skin and organs up into the heavy copper diving helmet, leaving the bones and straps of flesh in the diving suit.