› added 5 years ago

112

TIL, the earliest form of smallpox immunization was used in China in the 1500’s. Doctors would take ground up scabs from people with mild cases of the disease, and blow the material into their nostrils. This lead to a mild version of the disease which had a mortality rate of ~2%.(20-30%if untreated)

Read more historyofvaccines.org

via reddit.com

e09rg TIL of the Flower wars, ritualistic wars fought between the Aztec Empire and neighboring states. Armies would meet at an agreed time and place and fight using only melee weapons. The (probable) purpose was to use the losers for human sacrifices.
0waDN TIL A medieval French soldier climbed up a toilet into a besieged castle to let his army in. King John of England had specifically requested that toilet be installed for personal use during church services. The castle’s fall led to English loss of Normandy and the signing of the Magna Carta.
WkG89 TIL a 1485 poem describes the knight who killed Richard III as having 'shaved the boar's head.' This was thought to be a metaphor for beheading until his bones were discovered. The back of Richard III's skull had been sliced off. According to a French chronicler, it had been done with a halberd.
Zap TIL the Donkey Kong arcade game was originally developed as a Popeye game, but Nintendo lost the license. Mario was Popeye, Pauline was Olive Oyl, and DK was Brutus.
wLjZJ TIL that The Animals recorded The House of the Rising Sun in one take for £34 after loading their equipment on a stolen British railway wagon and pushing it through the West End of London to get to the studio on their day off