› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the farther back you sit on an airplane, the better your odds of survival in the event of a crash. Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front.

pYyO4 TIL - Computers were people (mostly women) up until WWII. Teams of people, often women from the late nineteenth century onwards, were used to undertake long and often tedious calculations.
97XX TIL that rapper Del the Funky Homosapien wrote the Gorillaz song “Clint Eastwood” with the book “How to Write a Hit Song,” which he bought with a coupon from his mom. He gave the platinum plaque to his mom.
QJ5Lk TIL that Nobel laureate Stanley Prusiner who discovered prions, an infectious protein in the brain, was attacked by both the scientific establishment and the media when he presented his ideas due to the thinking that an infectious protein would be impossible.
nevYB TIL in 1897, 3 Swedes attempted to be the first people to reach the North Pole. They travelled by hot air balloon but crashed after 65 hours. 33 years later, a ship discovered their camp, along with their dead bodies, journal, and camera. They'd survived for weeks by killing and eating polar bears.
eWRg TIL of the Edelweiss Pirates, a youth group in Nazi Germany dedicated to opposing the Hitler Youth. Their resistance included spreading Ally propaganda in Germany, aiding German deserters, and even starting street fights with the Hitler Youth whenever possible.