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TIL that James Doohan (Scotty on ‘Star Trek’) received an honorary doctorate from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The university gave him the degree after half of its students said in a survey that his character had inspired them to choose engineering as a career.

Read more news.bbc.co.uk

via ift.tt

rNaNW TIL about Chesterton’s Fence- the rule of thumb that says one shouldn’t alter, destroy, or remove something established and present- whether a physical object or structure, or something more abstract like laws, rules, and traditions- without first understanding why it’s there in the first place.
GAKX4 TIL: A study showed that men are attracted to the contrapposto stance, invented by the Greeks which feature the subject shifting weight onto one foot. Their gaze linger on the bend as it increases the Waist Hip Ratio. This helps explain high heels, catwalks, and belly dancing.
gMj44 TIL "Strange Fruit" is a song recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. It protests the lynching of Black Americans, with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees. The song has been called "a declaration of war" and "the beginning of the civil rights movement".
6NWZ TIL that human tears are a defense mechanism, the scent of which causes testosterone levels to decrease, reducing both aggression and sexual urges.
pYAn4 TIL It’s likely that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt never had polio. Studies have suggested that Guillain–Barré syndrome caused his paralysis, and it was misdiagnosed as polio.