› added 5 years ago

247

TIL that it is a myth that more people are alive today than have ever lived. It is estimated that 50-100 billion or more are believed to have already died yet there are currently around 7 billion people alive. Not surprisingly TIL often says "There are more people alive now than ever lived"...Nope.

Read more scientificamerican.com

via reddit.com

6QZQ TIL Johnny Carson once jokingly stated “You know what’s disappearing from the supermarket shelves? Toilet paper. There’s an acute shortage of toilet paper in the United States.” resulting in people stocking up their toilet paper reserves resulting in an actual shortage in many areas.
gNMy TIL Coca-Cola released a drink, Tab Clear, with the sole intention to be marketed so bad, that people wouldn’t want to drink it, in an attempt to ruin sales of Pepsico’s equivalent, Crystal Pepsi, by comparison. It worked.
9BjD TIL in 2014, a Stanford study found that walking boosts creative inspiration. The study examined creativity levels of people while they walked versus while they sat. A person’s creative output increased on average 60% when walking – regardless of how they walked (eg, outside or on a treadmill).
NZ9M TIL that the original surveyors of Mount Everest lied and added 2 feet to its height to make it 29,002 feet, because they didn’t think people would believe them if they said it was really 29,000 feet high.
OK9R TIL zoo keepers in England had to learn French in order to speak to baboons coming from a french zoo, because the animals didn’t respond to english commands.