› added 7 years ago

288

TIL of Ken Hechtman who as a student at Columbia stole Uranium 238 was expelled. Then proceeded to break into Area 51, Yucca Flat Test Site, and was present at Timothy McVeigh’s execution. After 9/11 he entered Afghanistan illegally and was captured by the Taliban.

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

ADpAw TIL that in the Great Depression, there was a fleet of "book women" who delivered books, regardless of weather, to rural communities in Appalachia. These women would ride 100-120 miles every week on horseback, traversing dangerous terrain, to ensure that their readers received their books on time.
Zp7gB TIL of The Bachelor of Powalgarh, an exceptionally large, man-eating Indian Bengal tiger, which was sought after and eventually shot and killed by Jim Corbett in 1930. The tiger was 10 feet 7 inches long
ZLxp TIL a British soldier in WWII sent a taunting message to Hitler saying “You said in your last speech German troops would meet the British wherever they landed. Where are your troops?”
7rL7x TIL Orlistat (Alli), a drug designed to block the absorption of dietary fats. It won the Bitter Pill Award for worst drug with numerous side-effects like fecal leakage and oily spotting along with that it really didn't work..
BlnL TIL ancient Egyptians had a pregnancy test where potentially pregnant women peed on barley and wheat seeds. Plant growth indicated pregnancy: Barley for boy; wheat for woman. Later tests show urine of pregnant women does cause plant growth 70% of the time, while urine of non-pregnant does not.