› added 10 years ago

100

TIL that nitrous oxide was used primarily as a recreational drug in English parties for over 4 decades before doctors saw its potential in medicine.

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VBm7k TIL Pierre-Simon Laplace's nebular hypothesis from 1796 is still, with some modification, the prevailing hypothesis for the origin of stars and planetary systems. Laplace proposed that nebulae are future solar systems, waiting to happen
kwV7 TIL of ‘The Jungle,’ the largest homeless encampment in the US – ironically, next to a creek in Silicon Valley.
Y7eM7 TIL Nellie Bly a female reporter attempted to recreate the famous novel "Around The World In 80 Days". Not only did she complete it with eight days to spare, she made a detour to interview Jules Verne, the original author.
yWAX TIL Thomas Paine was condemned to be guillotined in the French Revolution. He survived because the prison officers marked the wrong side of his cell door by mistake, and didn’t notice when it was closed
OGPVL TIL a Jiffy is a real unit of time (a jiffy is about 3 × 10 to the power of minus 24 seconds)