› added 8 years ago

448

TIL Scatman John’s 1994 hit came after a long jazz piano career, non-vocal due to a debilitating stutter. He later saw scatting as purposeful stuttering to be used w/ his lyrics to remove shame. He went on to hit #1 in 14 countries, 32 Platinum & Golds, & break world records for music sales @53 y.o.

ogLA TIL Up to 70% of people will experience a hypnagogic jerk when falling asleep. A hypnagogic jerk is an involuntary muscle spasm that occurs as a person is drifting off to sleep. The phenomenon is so named in reference to the hypnogogic state — the transitional period between wakefulness and sleep.
grXG9 TIL Robert Chesebrough promoted his petroleum jelly by giving away free samples, making him one of the first to do so. Chesebrough would also show his product's effectiveness by cutting and burning himself then apply petroleum jelly to treat the wound in front of an audience.
BryDy TIL politicians mocked John Adams, nicknaming him "His Rotundity" after he had suggested that the president should be titled like royalty, suggesting titles such as, "His Majesty the President" and “His Highness, the President of the United States of America, and Protector of the Rights of the Same"
Eg4Lp TIL that the French military has a long tradition of organising brothels for its soldiers, both at bases and near front lines, including in the Algerian and Vietnamese wars. The last one at a base closed in 2003
PVrL TIL that when asked how he had managed to gather so much information on his classmates, 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg replied that they were “Dumb fucks” for trusting him