› added 8 years ago

65

TIL that to study wind currents, the US Navy sprayed San Francisco with S. marcescens, thought to be a non-pathogenic bacterium. Doctors soon noted drastic increases in pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

DXop TIL that in WWI the 369th Infantry Regiment spent 191 days under fire,never lost a man through capture, lost a trench or a foot of ground to the enemy, but was not allowed to march in the victory parade.
Lkgpp TIL Japanese train drivers and conductors purposely point at all the signs they pass as a way to keep focus and prevent accidents. The technique is called shisa kanko and has been in use for more than 100 years.
WkJeY TIL, that movie Dallas Buyers Club budget was so low, they had only 250$ for the makeups. The film's artists were able to work with that, and the film's Makeup and Hairstyling won an Oscar.
ENNV TIL After 20 years of playing chess casually I’ve just learned that when you promote pawn in Chess, you can always take Queen in exchange, eventually ending up with 9 Queens max on field
D1nPv TIL That certain species of hawk in Australia have been known to purposely spread wildfires beyond firebreaks in order to force prey out into the open