› added 10 years ago

68

TIL the temperance movement in Australia during WW1 successfully forced bars to close at 6pm up until 1955. This did little to stop the amount of alcohol consumed and contributed to a culture of binge drinking which has left it’s mark on Australian drinking culture to this day.

Read more m.wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

DLgJ TIL around 3000BC a meteor crashed into the Indian Ocean, creating a 30km-wide crater. This caused a tsunami to hit coastal areas, including Mesopotamia, which be the origin of the flood myths (such as Noah’s Ark)
WkwyX TIL Dogs can can sniff out cancer even better than some lab tests. There is a specific dog called Lucy that are able to detect cancer in urine sample correctly more than 95% of the time.
jdpj TIL there’s an experimental project in Sweden where volunteers can sign up to receive a text message if there is a heart attack within (500m), so they can perform CPR before an ambulance arrives. 9600 people have signed up as of October, 2013.
grZQD TIL Easy Cheese cans contain a propellant piston and plastic barrier that allows the cheese to come out as a thick string rather than a mist of fluorescent dairy. This also allows Easy Cheese to be dispensed upside down, sideways, and right side up, and the reason it doesn't need to be refrigerated
p8LRe TIL of Sophia Blanchard one of the first women to fly hot air balloons. She lost consciousness on a few occasions, endured freezing temperatures and almost drowned when her balloon crashed in a marsh. In 1819, she died when her air balloon crashed. 10 years earlier her husband died the same way.