› added 4 years ago

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TIL that A 1983 April Fools' Day edition of the Durand Express, reported that "dihydrogen oxide" had been found in the city's water pipes,and warned that it was fatal if inhaled,and could produce blistering vapours.The dihydrogen monoxide parody involves calling water by an unfamiliar chemical name.

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eWGD TIL that Cherokee Indians ground roots of golden seal and mixed it with bear fat to use as a mosquito repellant.
xV7pw TIL about Xia Peisu, “The Mother of Computer Science in China.” With the country isolated from the rest of the world, she managed to develop the first indigenous PC, the Model 107, and to create the first schools in computer science.
8e1QX TIL the Chief Baker of the Titanic, Charles Joughin, survived by getting smashed on Brandy and calmly paddling around until dawn when he was rescued by a lifeboat. He was also one of the last people off the ship, riding the stern rail into the sea like an elevator
7M4X TIL that blind people have four times more nightmares than sighted people.
VMNY0 TIL that Enrico Fermi estimated the energy released by first atom bomb (Trinity test at Manhattan Project) by dropping small pieces of paper before, during, and after the passage of the blast wave and measuring their displacement. His estimate of 10 kilotons was pretty close to actual value of 21.