› added 4 years ago

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TIL:New research finds there is no “right thing” to say when you want to be supportive. Trying too hard to say the right thing could actually lead you to make “clumsy statements that do more harm than good”. Your “mere presence and sympathy is likely enough”.

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via reddit.com

vPjnK TIL that privacy debate suffers from a narrow understanding of the problem. The ways in which privacy invasions can cause harm to law-abiding individuals are often ignored, underestimated or even deliberately concealed, leading to the widespread (but misguided) “I have nothing to hide” attitude.
6E4L8 TIL the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles was based on true events experienced by writer and director John Hughes. Winter winds forced his flight to be canceled, he stayed in a hotel, a snowstorm the next day caused more delays, the plane he eventually got on was diverted to Denver, then Phoenix.
1PrO TIL that the last execution by electric chair in the United States before Furman v. Georgia was done to James D. French whose last words before his death were “How’s this for your headline? ‘French Fries’”.
rR5Yx TIL In France, a chemist named Pilatre de Rozier tested the flammability of hydrogen by gulping a mouthful and blowing across an open flame, proving at a stroke that hydrogen is indeed explosively combustible and that "eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of one’s face".
mxrJy TIL, it is still possible to send a personal, hand-delivered telegram. USA and International Telegrams, American Telegram® 1-800-Telegram℠