› added 9 years ago

408

TIL Ignaz Semmelweis discovered in 1847 that handwashing cut maternity death by 90%, laying the foundation for modern techniques and becoming known as ‘The Savior of Mothers’. Disbelieved by his peers, he was put in an asylum and died after being beaten, aged 47. Almost nobody attended his funeral.

Read more pbs.org

via reddit.com

wLg98 TIL there is a city called North Pole, Alaska. The city is known for having year round Christmas decorations.
rRbDW TIL of Cragside House - The first house in the world to be powered by Hydroelectric. It was the first 'smart home' of the 1800's with water powered electricity, laundry, rotisserie and even a dishwasher.
Eg8lV TIL about the Lost Cause myth that originated after the Civil War by white Southerners to justify their defeat by downplaying slavery's role, celebrating an idealized South, and persisting through Confederate monuments and racial ideologies that ignore the true nature of slavery or the Civil War.
6bl TIL in Memphis, Tennessee it is illegal for women to drive a car unless there is a man with a red flag in front of the car warning the other people on the road.
padO TIL in 1939 The New Times predicted the television would not be successful because it required people to sit and keep their eyes glued to a screen, which no one had time for.