› added 1 year ago

100

TIL that Thomas Edison and his partner, Edward Johnson, invented the first electric Christmas lights. For Christmas in 1880, Edison dressed his laboratory in lights; and, in 1882, Johnson put electric lights on a Christmas tree. However, lights were expensive, costing about $2,000 per tree in 1901.

Read more loc.gov

via reddit.com

8aVLZ TIL of the death of Don Henry and Keven Ives, who were hit by a train as they lay on the tracks. The deaths were initially ruled an accident as a result of the boys sleeping on the tracks due to marijuana intoxication. The cause of death was changed to "definite homicide" after a second autopsy.
VMjmp TIL that raising the drinking age to 21 significantly reduced the number of alcohol related traffic fatalities for people aged 16-20 in the U.S. by 64 percent, according to the NIH.
9Y6wX TIL Nathan Jones, the guy who played the giant Brad Pitt kills in the beginning of Troy, was once on Australia’s most wanted for a spate of 8 armed robberies committed between 1985 and 1987. He ended up serving 7 years in maximum security and was introduced to powerlifting while incarcerated.
GYRLG TIL that The North Face clothing company sued a clothing company called The South Butt and won forcing them to shut down their web store, Facebook page, surrender all merchandise, and pay a $65,000 fine.
41ww TIL Myopia is extremely uncommon among nonhuman primates but researchers can easily induce it by depriving infant monkeys of normal outdoor lighting levels. Outdoor lighting is usually about 100 times more intense than what you get inside