› added 5 years ago

73

TIL The Japanese military used plague-infected fleas and flies, covered in cholera, to infect the population of China. They were spread using low-flying planes and with bombs containing mixtures of insects and disease. 440,000 people died as a result.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

pdPp TIL that when the Big Bang theory was first presented, most scientists rejected it for sounding too religious.
16nGr TIL that the author of the thriller The Four Just Men offered a £500 prize to whoever guessed the killer's name, but forgot to state there would only be one winner. The book became a bestseller but bankrupted him, as he was legally bound to pay every reader who answered correctly.
R7wR1 TIL - Vindaloo (curry) originated from Portuguese sailors, carne de vinha d'alhos ("meat in garlic wine marinade"). The basic structure of the dish was "preserved" raw ingredients, packed in wooden barrels of layers of pork & garlic, soaked in red wine. This was "Indianized" by the local Goan cooks.
KY9jw TIL the 1946 film, It’s a Wonderful Life, was unsuccessful at the box office, and became a Christmas classic after its copyright expired in 1974 following a lack of renewal and it entered the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees
MLQ0 TIL current Miss America, Kira Kazantsev, was expelled from her sorority, Alpha Phi, for cruel hazing.