› added 7 years ago

170

TIL while working at a railway, Richard Sears' station received a shipment of gold watches but the jeweler refused the shipment. Sears got the watches at a reduced rate (a common scam) and sold them to his coworkers who needed to keep accurate time. The success lead to his first mail-order catalog.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

QPn6 TIL that the 50% divorce rate is a misleading statistic because it doesn’t take into account repeat offenders. The per-groom divorce rate is approximately 20%.
0wkrM TIL that Sarah Silverman, Mel Brooks, and several Holocaust survivors are featured in a documentary about why Holocaust humor is essential to overcoming and remembering those who perished.
XD8X TIL that President W. Bush started a program that gave $15bn to fight HIV/AIDS, it saved 1.1 million lives in Africa and reduced the death rate due to AIDS by 10%.
gMXbA TIL that the creator of Scooby Doo, Iwao Takamoto, learned to animate from fellow prisoners while incarcerated in the Manzinar internment camp for Japanese-Americans during WWII.
DQeLv TIL Reattachment surgery is a modern invention/treatment, with the first reattachment occuring in 1962. The procedure relies on microsurgery to successfully reconnect nerves and blood vessels; typically requiring an operating microscope and micro sutures.