› added 11 years ago

80

TIL Dr. Bernice Eddy warned the NIH that the polio vaccines they were about to release contained live polio virus. They ignored her and released the vaccine anyway, and as a result 40,000 children developed polio. The NIH director who dismissed Dr. Eddy then resigned.

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BrnnW TIL After Bill Cosby's crimes, and all reruns of the Cosby Show being dropped, actor Geoffrey Owens was forced to bag groceries at Trader Joe's due to royalties drying up. Tyler Perry discovered this and picked him up for a 10 part role in a TV show, kick-starting back his career.
nWWdb TIL that the awarding of As at four-year colleges has been increasing by 5-6% per decade since 1960; an "A" is now the most common grade, accounting for about 42% of all grades, 3x more than in 1960.
69R1W TIL, the 1996 Lake Huron Cyclone was a low pressure cyclonic storm which formed over Lake Huron in September of 1996.
R7YRw TIL that New Zealand has an official Wizard. He was initially threatened with arrest because of his antics, but after being named a living work of art and performing a successful rain dance during a drought, the PM named him The official Wizard of NZ, Antarctica, and relevant offshore areas.
7rM0X TIL Bob Odenkirk and Judd Apatow wrote the infamous SNL sketch starring William Shatner telling a bunch of hapless Trekkies to "Get a life!" at a Star Trek convention