› added 9 years ago

143

TIL that US Congresswoman Jackie Speier is a survivor of the Jonestown massacre. She was shot five times by followers of cult leader Jim Jones while attempting to leave Jonestown via plane, and had to wait 22 hours for help to arrive

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

ax6b TIL of the “Returning Soldier Effect” – after both World Wars, more male babies were born than females in almost all belligerant countries. The reason is unknown.
gMVy9 TIL about Basil II. He is said to have captured 15,000 prisoners and fully blinded 99 of every 100 men, leaving one one-eyed man in each cohort to lead the rest back to their ruler. The king of Bulgaria was struck down by the sight of his blinded army and died two days later after suffering a stroke
jN5kj TIL about "Present Bias" where we give more weightage to payoffs that are closer to the present time when considering an option between two future pay-offs. According to research, managing present bias leads to better prospects in wealth and health.
KwrQ TIL in 1968 a tower block in London partially collapsed after a woman tried to make a cup of tea.
yQ7nw TIL there is an animated film based on Titanic that was so bad, one reviewer described as "offensive to the Titanic’s memory"