› added 5 years ago

86

TIL about the Indonesian Communist purge in 1965/66 - over 500,000 to 1 M communists were killed, and US played a significant role in the killings, supplying economic, technical and military aid to the Indonesian military when the killings began and providing "kill lists"

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R7Eo9 TIL Japanese researcher Akita Endo tested 6000 compounds in search of a cholesterol-lowering drug before discovering that a mold found on a rice sample found in a grain shop was highly effective. His discovery lex to of statins prescribed to millions of people to prevent heart disease.
8erO4 TIL - JP Morgan Chase rolled out an extensive employee bio-data and activity tracking system called WADU, which would monitor employees using the cam and mic, even at home
4XwWJ TIL that, on May 13, 1974, seventy three children were struck with a mysterious illness at a Florida elementary school. Suspecting a gas leak, the Dept. of Public Health sent investigators. Dr. Nitzkin, an epidemiologist, discovered it was mass hysteria: one child fainted and the others panicked.
JG1 TIL the Nancy Drew books were extensively revised in 1959 to eliminate racist stereotypes
R54Q6 TIL The name of the Ghibli animation studio was chosen because of Miyazaki's interest in airplanes, this is the nickname of an Italian aircraft with the full name Caproni Ca.309. In addition, in Italian, it means hot wind in the desert.