› added 5 years ago

233

TIL The "Y.M.C.A" dance originated in 1979 episode of American Bandstand which featured the Village People as guests. The dance was performed by audience members while the group performed the song. Dick Clark showed the audience doing the YMCA gestures & the group incorporated it into their routine.

Read more youtube.com

via reddit.com

rR050 TIL that in 1918 Chicago during the Great Flu Pandemic Julia “Slick Julia” Lyons posed as a home nurse and then robbed them. First she would over-charge them for prescriptions ($63 for a $5 dose of oxygen) and then would flat out steal cash, jewelry, clothing, or any other valuables she could find.
VMEgk TIL over a century ago, poultry producers would pamper their flocks as winter approached to encourage hens to continue laying eggs. Today, the industry instead uses a technique of starving hens for 1-2 weeks. The practice is banned in the EU as inhumane, but is widely used in the US.
JYaVB TIL in 1944 a 14-year-old was executed by electric chair. George Stinney Jr, a black boy, was accused of murdering 2 white girls. The trial was flimsy, and the jury decided in 10 minutes to execute the teen. In 2014, his conviction was vacated.
Yb8d TIL that Exxon’s punitive damages for the Exxon Valdex oil spill were reduced from $5 billion to $507.5 million
worBo TIL: About a Western European tradition called ‘Telling the bees’ in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household.