› added 11 years ago

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TIL that, in 1957, a terminal cancer patient was given a worthless drug that caused his tumors to “melt like snowballs on a hot stove.” When he found out it was proven worthless, his cancer returned. He was given a placebo version and it went away again. He learned the truth, then died soon after.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

gMQab TIL "Comrade Kim goes Flying" is North Korea’s first “girl power” movie and it was screened at numerous film festivals in 2014. The story of coal miner, her dream of becoming a trapeze artist is crushed by an arrogant trapeze star who believes miners belong underground and not in the air
MYEB TIL that the word ‘plastic’ in 'plastic surgery’ is in no way a reference to the petroleum based engineered material, but actually denotes 'sculpting or reshaping’, from the Greek derived word 'πλαστική’ (plastikē), “the art of modelling” of malleable flesh.
b6GKE TIL about Christiane F., a teen drug addict at the Bahnhof Zoo (Zoo Station), a hotspot for drug trafficking and underage sex work in West Berlin. Her book is widely read in German schools to warn about dangers of drug addiction.
8eP0K TIL Gangkhar Puensum is the tallest mountain in Bhutan and the tallest unclimbed mountain at 7,570 m (24,840 ft). Gankhar Puensum will likely remain the tallest unclimbed mountain as mountaineering above 6,000 m (20,000 ft) has been prohibited in Bhutan since 1994 to respect spiritual beliefs.
yQj4X TIL that US Navy periscope operators now use Xbox controllers, as the original control stick was deemed too complicated and a lot more expensive. Xbox controllers are so widely used that the learning time is hugely reduced, and they cost $37,980 less.