› added 5 years ago

238

TIL that soldiers that wielded bronze swords used the metal filings from sharpening their blades after combat as a disinfectant for their wounds, due to copper's anti-microbial properties.

Read more theconversation.com

via reddit.com

a69y TIL Georgre Ohr, the “mad potter of Biloxi” had an 18" mustache that he curled behind his ears and tied behind his head. No one bought his wacky pottery for the ridiculous asking price of $25. Some of his work is worth up to 25 million today, as he predicted it someday would be.
mkRE TIL The arabic version of the Simpsons is called “Al Shamshoon”, Homer was named Omar, he drank soda instead of beer and ate beef instead of pork. Ned was not a christian and Moe’s tavern was edited out all together. Only 34 episodes were aired out of the 54 reworked ones.
epR1L TIL that the first cure for tuberculosis, streptomycin, was developed by a 23 year old grad student at Rutgers, Albert Schatz. It was also effective against other penicillin resistant infections and the first life saved with the drug was a young lieutenant wounded in Italy named Bob Dole.
XENA6 Today I learned that the handkerchief on a stick (that is seen in movies carried by hobos to carry their stuff) is called a bindle.
OovLa TIL: The code names for two of the first A-bombs were "Thin Man" and "Fat Man". To help preserve secrecy during World War II, their purpose was obscured with a cover story: for a secret tour of the US, a special railroad car was being customized for FDR ("Thin Man") and Churchill ("Fat Man").