› added 1 year ago

71

TIL Isaac Newton invested in the “South Sea Company” which profited from the sale of some British goods and, more significantly and more grimly, enslaved Africans

Read more pubs.aip.org

via reddit.com

1a7eD TIL poet Carl Sandburg, when attempting to visit a high school in Illinois that was named after him, was mistaken for a hobo and ordered to leave the premises.
R7mK8 TIL that during WW2, the UK planned to build 'unsinkable' giant aircraft carriers with 40ft thick hulls made out of a mixture of ice and wood pulp. The project was canceled, but the scale model took three years to melt.
W7ED9 TIL of "The Dip", a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide used to clean lead off of suppressors and other firearm parts. The resulting chemical reaction dissolves the lead into lead acetate, which can cause lead poisoning from simple contact with the dermis (skin).
ANxLn TIL in 1924 French colonists deliberately introduced an insect to Madagascar in order to kill off plants which native pastoralists used as food and animal feed - leading to a famine which killed hundreds and displaced thousands, but cleared land and made labor available for French sugar plantations
16bQ4 TIL that red dyes #2 and #4 were deemed carcinogenic in the 1970s. Even though M&Ms never used these dyes, red M&Ms were discontinued from 1976-1987 because of the health scare.