› added 13 years ago

190

TIL magnetic liquids could be used to clean up oil spills

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7rnBL TIL that in 1955 the famous, white DJ Alan Freed "accidently" played the single, Only You (And You Alone) by The Platters, on air during a prime time that was traditionally reserved for only white artists. It became an instant hit and pioneered the 'new sound' of rock ’n’ roll as we know it today.
VB4k8 TIL 87 U.S. soldiers died in a Christmas flight crash in 1952 while heading home from the Korean War—and their story was so forgotten, it took 60 years for anyone to build them a memorial.
e6kE TIL that once the Babylonians could predict when solar eclipses would occur, they would install a substitute king during this period. As they believed that these eclipses were an evil omen, this substitute king could be blamed. (He usually was killed after - of course making the omen true.)
Jp0B TIL an Australian doctor named Dr Jack Barnes stung himself, his nine year old son, and a local lifeguard with the Irukandji jellyfish to prove it was the then-unknown cause of Irukandji Syndrome. All three developed the syndrome, and the jellyfish was named Carukia barnesi after him.
AY5n TIL in the late 1920s Lysol disinfectant was marketed as a feminine hygiene product.