› added 1 year ago

57

TIL that the inventor of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, Les Paul, was a regular visitor at Steve Miller’s childhood home, as Miller’s father was in the music business. When Steve was 6, Les Paul heard him play the guitar, and encouraged him to continue with his interest in guitar.

8bbV TIL that the smell when it first starts raining is called Petrichor. It is a combination of plant oils and the chemical Geosin. New research has shown that when the rain drops hit the ground they trap tiny air bubbles, which then shoot upwards creating an aerosol.
wgpW TIL In 1982, after 7 people died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol, CEO James E. Burke ordered a universal recall, costing $100 million. The incident was found to have been carried out after being manufactured.
GY1Y1 TIL American captives in the Vietnam war would authenticate a new prisoner’s American identity by tapping the first five notes of “Shave and a Haircut”, against a cell wall, and waiting for the appropriate response
OxmL TIL scientists have reconstructed YouTube videos from the brain activity of the people watching them. One day a technique like this might allow us to record our dreams
p8Ka4 TIL Siegel and Shuster created Kryptonite in 1940, in an unpublished Superman story 3 years before it appeared on the radio show. DC Comics rejected the story because among other things Superman revealed his secret identity to Lois, causing their relationship to change and upsetting the status quo.