› added 4 years ago

170

TIL that H1N1, the influenza strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, survived another 40+ years as a seasonal flu bug. It was finally “extinguished” by another flu virus, H2N2, in the 1957 flu pandemic. Even so, a “new” H1N1 emerged 50 years later to cause the 2009 “swine flu” pandemic.

Read more scientificamerican.com

via reddit.com

4n6b TIL Sony and other Japanese companies have banishment rooms where they transfer surplus employees and give them menial or useless tasks or even nothing to do until they become depressed or disheartened enough to quit on their own, thus not getting full benefits
aoRb TIL the day before the 1996 US presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper” – the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses
9Y9br TIL the concept of "Casual Fridays" began in Hawaii as "Aloha Fridays" as a way for the Hawaiian Fashion Guild to sell more Hawaiian clothing
GAv0G TIL that in ancient Rome plebeians would leave the cities during the "secession of the plebeians." This left the elites to fend for themselves.
N7GJe TIL A tourist in Iceland was arrested when some local girls told him that it was tradition to run around naked on the Prime Minister's lawn.