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TIL a Confederate soldier named John Stith Pemberton got stabbed in the chest in battle, and afterwards became hooked on morphine. He was working on a cure for his painkiller addiction when he accidentally mixed it with carbonated water and invented Coca-Cola.

wo0j7 TIL that the concept of “brain death” is controversial and not universally accepted. While most of the medical community defines brain death as the irreversible cessation of all brain activity, some argue that it’s a social and legal construct rather than a definitive biological state.
OoBwg TIL Lays marketed a low calorie "WOW" brand of chips that made consumers crap their pants. The main ingredient, Olestra, is a fat substitute which allows for frying without calories being added. The problem is your body can't absorb it. Consumers suffered from cramping, diarrhea, and anal leakage.
epO75 TIL that Charles Darwin conducted excavations at Stonehenge in 1877 to test his hypothesis that earthworm bioturbation is largely responsible for the continual sinking and burial of surface objects across the world.
pdBN TIL that Satoshi Tajiri (the creator of Pokémon), made Pokémon faint instead of die because he believed there was already enough violence in videogames and that kids should have a realistic, serious outlook on death.
kJ1Wm TIL about Johnny Clem, who joined the Union Army as a drummer boy at age 10. Clem became a legend when he shot and killed a Confederate Colonel at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.