› added 11 years ago

298

TIL that a mathematician by the name of Joseph Fourier had a belief that if he wrapped his body in a blanket, it would be beneficial to his health. His death was caused by tripping on a blanket and falling down stairs.

Read more scienceworld.wolfram.com

via reddit.com

OonLX TIL Mel Ignatow was acquitted of the murder of his girlfriend... selling his house to fund his defense. However, photos of him actually comitting the murder were found inside the house, but due to double-jeapordy laws, he couldn't be tried again
pY4QO TIL about "Go motion" a stop motion technique created by Phil Tippet in which they animate puppets connected to computers that record movements, then just filming the puppet being articulated by the computer replaying the movements it had recorded, all in order to avoid adding artificial motion blur
4XKDa Til the Statue of Liberty's hand sat in Madison Square park for 6 years before being installed. While the French paid for the statue, the US didn't want to pay for the pedestal, so to raise money, photographs were sold to tourists and for 50 cents, you could climb a ladder to the top of the torch.
Wkpoo TIL of Hannah Szenes, a Jewish parachutist dropped by the British into Yugoslavia during WWII to help rescue Hungarian Jews about to be deported to Auschwitz. Arrested, imprisoned and tortured, she refused to reveal details of her mission or her transmitter code. She was eventually executed.
LkB4v TIL Thomas Paine introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income in 1795. [Government must] create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling.