› added 5 years ago

112

TIL: "Cloudbusting" was a term coined by psychoanalyst wilhelm reich to describe manipulation of "orgone energy" to change the weather, through a specially designed machine. The term was later used as the subject and title of Katie Bush's single 1985 single, Cloudbusting.

j6pev TIL The cult classic 1972 Swedish movie "The Man Who Quit Smoking" was written when the writer himself was trying to quit smoking, he said that if he made a movie about quitting smoking, he'd be too embarassed to start smoking again afterwards.
Vr6B TIL in the last 5 millennia, genetic change in humans has occurred at a rate roughly 100 times higher than any other period of human evolution. Humans today are more genetically different from humans living 5,000 years ago than these people were from humans living 40,000 years ago.
R5Ny7 TIL of Cottonclads, a class of lightly armed Confederate river ships armored with cotton bales. They used sharpshooters and rams as their main weapons, dropping the gangplanks down to board Union ships. They were used effectively at the Battle of Galveston, capturing the Harriet Lane.
neZb9 TIL Napoleon divorced his wife, Josephine, due to her being unable to produce an heir. However, he insisted she retain the Empress title and they remained on good terms. Napoleon's last words before dying were, "France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine."
aw9Qb TIL that, in France, it is illegal to to publish photographs of identifiable handcuffed suspects, as they are not to appear guilty until proven so. This means that "perp walks" are not allowed under current law, either.