› added 10 years ago

80

TIL that mercury use in hat-making, which causes “Mad Hatters Disease”, was banned in France in 1898, However the practice continued in the US until 1941, despite 80% of hatmakers being diagnosed with “mercurial tremors”, until it was abandoned due to the wartime need for mercury.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

x6m9B TIL a Croatian woman died of unknown natural causes alone in her apartment; her body remained undisturbed for 42 years until it was discovered sitting in front of her TV in 2008. It's thought that the isolated position of the place allowed the decomposition to go unnoticed until mummification set in
9jgG TIL Bender in Futurama is named after John Bender from The Breakfast Club
BrDJr TIL a 31 yr. old man was diagnosed with a fractured cervical spine caused by virtual reality gaming due to rapid movement and the headset weight. Visual stimulus removed the brains awareness of perceived threat to self harm allowing increased rotation of the spine.
d86vB TIL Abraham Lincoln faces a different direction on the penny because the penny is an adaptation of a plaque by Victor David Brenner. The illustration was placed on the penny as a result of President Theodore Roosevelt's love for Brenner's work.
nAab TIL During the 1848 uprising in Vienna, Emperor Ferdinand I. asked Chancellor Metternich, upon seeing the protesters from his palace, what they were doing to which Metternich replied “They are making a revolution” to which the Emperor asked “But are they allowed to do that?”