› added 10 months ago

30

TIL Adelir Antônio de Carli, also known as 'Balloon Priest,' died in April 2008 during a cluster-ballooning attempt to raise funds for a spiritual rest area for truck drivers in Paranaguá, Brazil.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

j6eRa TIL The precursor to 'the rack' torture device was the Hippocratic bench, a medical device used to straighten the spine/set bones.
WkVbY TIL from 1982-1983, three men in Allentown PA competed in a radio contest in which they lived on top of a billboard in tents. Whoever stayed up longest would win a house. Due to economic pressure from the recession, none of the contestants wanted to give up, so the contest lasted almost 9 months.
gMPeL TIL McDonalds szechuan dipping sauce wasn’t szechuan at all, as the szechuan peppercorn was banned in the US at the time of the original promotion.
NXe01 TIL that the Ford Pinto’s 4 cylinder engine was used in various other Ford models and was in production until 2001, long after the Pinto itself was discontinued
l7okG TIL that life really might "flash before your eyes" upon death, according to EEG study of stroke victim by Univ. of British Columbia.