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TIL Kotex, the first-ever brand of sanitary napkins for women, was first manufactured as bandages during WWI. Cellucotton, which was made of wood pulp, was five times as absorbent as cotton bandages but much less expensive. The company needed to find a use for the cellucotton after the war.

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4k0VN TIL about the Cadaver Synod: In 897, Pope Stephen VI held a bizarre trial against the corpse of Pope Formosus, accusing him of crimes like perjury and violating church laws. Formosus' decayed body was dressed in papal robes, propped up, and symbolically 'defended' in court.
M7Mva TIL During the 50's and 60's, Dr. Chester M. Southam injected patients and prisoners with cancer cells (HeLa cells) for research without their consent. He was reported and suspended for a year despite a cover up attempt. He later became President of the American Association for Cancer Research.
PYwMJ TIL in 1721, the now-Lutheran Danish sent missionaries to Greenland, as it was assumed the medieval Norse settlers must still be Catholic or had reverted to paganism. The Norse had died out in the early 1400s, but the Danes found Inuit there instead
lMwN TIL Roman Emperor Constantius described himself on occasion as ‘redditor lucis aeternae’, bringer of eternal light.
xw9B TIL that every year on February 14th, the nation of Iran sends Salman Rushdie a reminder of their promise to kill him for writing The Satanic Verses.