› added 10 years ago

73

TIL that psychologist B. F. Skinner got pigeons to repeat strange “rituals” by dropping food into their cage at random intervals – the birds associated their actions before the treats with reward, and demonstrated superstitious repetition of those actions

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4XYXa TIL 20 years ago, Chris Evans got his first big break in Hollywood by starring in Not Another Teen Movie, in which he wore a whipped cream bikini and stuck a banana up his butt
wLZko TIL the espresso martini was invented when a young woman asked a famous London bartender for a drink that would "Wake me up, then fuck me up."
PYQLZ Today I learned that (contrary to modern portrayals) gladiators were not lean but rather chubby, allowing them to sustain more damage in the arena and continue fighting.
KYNPw TIL Traditionally, Scotch whisky is distilled twice and Irish whiskey three times. For this reason, the Irish claim their whiskey is a smoother and purer whiskey
p8XNZ TIL about the Bodo League Massacre of 1950, where 60,000-200,000 civilians suspected of being communists (many of whom had no connection with communism) were executed in South Korea during the Korean War