› added 5 years ago

83

TIL that the Soviets told the inventor of the Theremin that "electricity is not good for music; electricity is to be used for electrocution" and then fired him

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

KgY4 TIL: That Charles R Drew,The first African American to graduate Columbia medical school and a key scientist in the creation of the blood bank, Lost his job because he refused to segregate blood by the race of the donor
YZdx TIL Chef Boyardee received awards for his food from both the Americans and the Russians for supplying them with food during WWII. Although he was unable to acknowledge the Russian award due to the Cold War
6vXZ TIL Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide and upon his request, Johnny Depp fired his ashes out of a cannon during his funeral.
8aPeX TIL in 2000, author J.K. Rowling gave her father the first edition of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' for Father's Day and signed it: "Lots of love from your first born." Three years later, he sold it for £27,500.
ZEkB TIL that there is a small town outside Fort Worth, TX named White Settlement. In 2005, a record number of voters turned out to oppose changing the name to something less racist-sounding and then proceeded to call for the mayor’s resignation for even proposing the change.