› added 1 year ago

58

TIL about the 1936 Literary Digest Presidential Poll which was so wrong it destroyed the magazine's credibility. It projected Republican Alf Landon to defeat Incumbent Franklin Roosevelt easily. Roosevelt ended up winning 48 states and the popular vote by 24 percentage points

GYA8J TIL that during the Victorian Era, “female hysteria” was a catchall term for many feelings of malaise, including when a woman was horny. Doctors “treated” the ailment by masturbating the women until they reached “hysterical paroxysm”, or as we call it today, an orgasm. [NSFW]
kkR5 TIL that after being rejected by 20 publishers, Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi classic Dune was finally picked up by Chilton Books. The publisher was previously known only for those big car repair manuals sold in auto parts stores.
Br4dD TIL that the Hooded Pitohui is one of the first known poisonous birds. Their feathers give off a neurotoxin (homobatrachotoxin) which causes numbness and has previously only been found in the skin of poison dart frogs. It inhabits the rainforests and tropical jungles of New Guinea.
pYEpb TIL that in the 1980s, A&W launched their third-pounder burger to compete with the quarter-pounder. Confused about low sales, they conducted a study and found that around half the participants thought a third was smaller than a quarter. The burger was rebranded to the "papa burger."
Vw1k TIL Laws against child labour were introduced in Prussia to improve the health of army recruits.