› added 11 years ago

169

TIL that in 2006, teenage fans of a popular Portuguese soap opera began experiencing the physical symptoms of a fictional disease that was introduced to the characters on the show. The “outbreak” spread to over 300 people. It is considered an example of mass hysteria.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

69NJZ TIL that The Beach Boys didn't actually use the theremin (the instrument that makes the oooeeeoooo sound) in Good Vibrations, due to it being notoriously difficult to play. Instead they used a simplified version
R7bV8 TIL people knocked on wood to request good luck from mystical creatures they believed lived in the trees or to distract spirits with evil intentions
EgOBP TIL that according to the CIA factbook, 12% of the world's languages are concentrated in Papua New Guinea, that contains more than 839 distinct languages.
8e1QX TIL the Chief Baker of the Titanic, Charles Joughin, survived by getting smashed on Brandy and calmly paddling around until dawn when he was rescued by a lifeboat. He was also one of the last people off the ship, riding the stern rail into the sea like an elevator
xVBv5 TIL that Charging Bull, the famous statue on Wall Street, was installed secretly and illegally outside the New York Stock Exchange in 1989 following the 1987 stock market crash. The sculpture was seized and impounded by NYPD, but re-installed two blocks south of the Exchange after a public outcry.