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TIL Dr. James Simpson, who first showed the effects of chloroform on humans in 1847. He sat with his assistants nightly trying chemicals. After they collapsed and came to after using chloroform, he recognized its anesthetic potential. He nicknamed the first baby delivered by chloroform "Anesthesia."

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oB1Ao TIL that there was a blind bisexual goose who fell in love with two swans and helped raise 60+ of their babies
a8W4b TIL about the Slave Narrative project that took place during the Great Depression. Created by the WPA, out-of-work writers were hired to collect the life stories of former slaves. 2,300 first-person accounts were recorded and archived.
wowB8 TIL John von Neumann regularly recalled complete novels and pages of the phone directory. He could divide two 8-digit numbers in his head and converse in Ancient Greek at age 6, and was proficient in calculus at age 8. When he enrolled in university at 16, he had already written a research paper.
WkDRo TIL that Bob Ezrin, the producer of Pink Floyd's The Wall album, was banned from coming to the "Wall tour" shows by Roger Waters — he was angry that Ezrin had leaked the concept of the show to a journalist friend (unintendingly acc. to Ezrin). Ezrin bought his own ticket and went anyway.
Eg440 TIL that Steven Adams of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team is the youngest of EIGHTEEN children - many of which are also champion athletes.