› added 9 years ago

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TIL during WWI a British recruitment tool called the “Pals Battalion” allowed people from the same town to enter the military together. Though it increased enlistment rolls, it also devastated whole regions of the UK whenever a battalion experienced heavy casualties. By WWII the idea was abandoned.

epymD TIL that a con man defrauded Al Capone. He persuaded Capone to invest $50,000 in a scheme. After two months, he returned the funds. He informed Capone that the scheme had failed and that he had no funds to support himself. Capone, impressed by his candor, provided him with $5,000 to "tide him over."
Jnj8 TIL that the original script for Good Will Hunting contained a scene in which Robin Williams gives Stellan Skarsgård a blowjob. This was because Damon and Affleck knew studio execs never read scripts and the scene wasn’t mentioned until Harvey Weinstein read it thinking it was hilarious
BgQyd TIL Musical Anhedonia (the inability to derive pleasure from music) is considered a neurological condition related to Autism.
YpGZG TIL Leonardo da Vinci observed a relationship between the areas of tree trunks and branches that has been validated by current studies of many species, and has multiple theories explaining the relationship
pk9G TIL that when a scientist attempted to blow the whistle on the FDA for approving an unsafe medical device, the FDA installed spyware to record his private emails and surfing activities, and then used the information to smear him and other whistleblowers.