› added 11 years ago

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TIL: in WWI US Navy painted complex patterns of geometric shapes on ships as “dazzle camo”

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via reddit.com

wo6XE TIL that Otis Redding’s iconic song 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' was recorded just days before he died in a plane crash, and it became the first posthumous number-one single in the U.S.
Wk6Y4 TIL that US government spent 900 milion $ for Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques that proved to be fruitless and had no scientific background
Q9QE TIL that the modern day “pirate accent” we know comes from Robert Newton’s portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950 Disney adaptation of Treasure Island. Before that, there was no universal"pirate accent".
j68vX TIL that Asbestos' health hazard are not caused chemically, but mechanically. Asbestos fibers are so small that they pierce cell walls without killing the cell. Fibers cause mutations by piercing the mitotic spindle, which disrupts mitosis & causes chromosomal damage responsible for the ill effects.
nMOo TIL that there is no scientific basis for the Kübler-Ross “DABDA” model, aka the 5 stages of grief. The author herself insisted the stages didn’t all happen and not in any order. The model was embraced in pop culture because humans are naturally predisposed to explanations that tell a simple story.