› added 3 weeks ago

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TIL an 1854 London cholera outbreak was curbed by a man who defied the day's medical beliefs. Dr John Snow, father of modern epidemiology, traced the outbreak to a tainted water pump. The pump handle was removed, basically ending outbreak. The theory that disease spread by "bad air" soon unraveled.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

W7dDX TIL Magic Kingdom in Florida is built on a network of tunnels that mirror the park so cast members can get to the different lands without spoiling the immersion.
neOwG TIL that the Standard Kilogram, a cylinder of platinum that used to be the definition of a kilogram, has been mysteriously getting lighter
0eZA TIL in 1968, a car driven by bank employees was pulled over by a motorcycle cop claiming the car had been rigged with a bomb. The cop got under the car to “defuse” the device. When the car started to smoke, everybody ran. Then the “cop” just drove the car away. The 300M Yen robbery remains unsolved
NXE9b TIL: Dorothy Martin started a Doomsday cult in the 50's based on automatic writing w/ "aliens". Though she incorrectly predicted several End of the World events leading to public humiliation, her writings would inspire other cults, including Heavens Gate and lead to the study of Cognitive Dissonance
D1rAv TIL people in Maine are called Downeasters because it's downwind and east sailing from Boston. It's also why they "ship up" to Boston.