› added 11 years ago

71

TIL the Manhattan Project secretly tested the effects of radiation on its own citizens, including injecting pregnant women and feeding schoolboys radioactive oatmeal.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

xnbD TIL that Ouija boards work because of the Ideomotor effect, which is when someone moves themselves or an object without consciously knowing it.
1a9wV TIL a guy in 19th Century China managed to convince over 30 million people he was Jesus Christ's brother, and attempted to rebel against the Chinese Government, starting one of the bloodiest civil wars in human history
4XaJN TIL that the Krakatoa explosion that occurred over two centuries ago was the loudest sound ever recorded in history.
e0wvk TIL when Tater Tots first hit store shelves in 1956, people did not buy them because they were very inexpensive and there was no perceived value. When the price was raised by stores, people began buying the product.
pBXO TIL that Jackie Chan was in his mothers womb for 12 months resulting in him weighing over 12 pounds!