› added 5 years ago

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TIL about Dr. Chester Southam who injected live cancer cells into people with questionable ability to consent, including senile patients under long-term care. He was charged with unprofessional conduct and later went on to become President of the American Association for Cancer Research

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BrbXL TIL: That a dead fish, if placed in the wake of an object in a stream of water, can "swim" upstream.
epEvD TIL Howard Hughes once refused to leave a hotel room in Las Vegas. Instead of leaving, he decided to purchase the entire hotel. Hughes then expanded his holdings in the city, became the largest employer in Nevada, and was thought to be largely responsible for the modern transformation of Las Vegas.
Z8WJY TIL That J Ralph, first composer in the history of the Oscars to have received multiple nominations for Best Original song that originated from documentaries, can neither read nor write music (notation)
knA5 TIL that Miyamoto believed “donkey” meant “stupid” in English, and assumed the name Donkey Kong would convey the sense “stupid ape” to an American audience. When he suggested this name to Nintendo of America, he was laughed at, but the name stuck.
a8PjZ TIL Vince Gilligan described his pitch meeting with HBO for 'Breaking Bad' as the worst meeting he ever had. The exec he pitched to could not have been less interested, "Not even in my story, but about whether I actually lived or died." In the weeks after, HBO wouldn't even give him a courtesy 'no'.