TIL that until 1964, Mr. Potato Head toys were meant to be used with real potatoes. The toy was shipped with “plastic facial pieces,” which had sharp ends that had to be forcibly inserted into a potato (not included), and presented both choking and stabbing hazards for small children.
https://ift.tt/35Gqzmw
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 03:24PM by bearjew64
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bJhayq
https://ift.tt/35Gqzmw
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 03:24PM by bearjew64
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bJhayq
www.pbs.org
Mr. Potato Head | American Experience | PBS
Hasbro launched the first advertising campaign for Mr. Potato Head on April 30th, 1952. Within its first few months on the market, the toy earned the company more than $4 million.
TIL of people who drill holes into their skulls and advocate the health benefits. They call it "Trepanning" and believe it can benefit brain health and mood disorders. Two men in Utah were charged for performing the procedure on a woman without a medical license. There is no evidence of benefit.
https://ift.tt/3bJo2fd
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 03:22PM by ImMikePossibly
via reddit https://ift.tt/38JTKXF
https://ift.tt/3bJo2fd
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 03:22PM by ImMikePossibly
via reddit https://ift.tt/38JTKXF
Wikipedia
Trepanning
surgical intervention; drilling a hole in the skull
TIL about Dorothy Levitt, one of the first British female racing drivers. In her column for women she advised women on a car to buy, how to dress while driving, and items to bring, including gloves, an extra handkerchief, a clean veil, a powder-puff, hair-pins, a hand mirror, chocolates, and a gun.
https://ift.tt/2NaeqzV
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 05:43PM by marmorset
via reddit https://ift.tt/35HoRBk
https://ift.tt/2NaeqzV
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 05:43PM by marmorset
via reddit https://ift.tt/35HoRBk
Smithsonian Magazine
Advice for Drivers From Dorothy Levitt, the Pre-War Racing Record Breaker You’ve Never Heard Of
Levitt’s story is proof that women were in auto racing almost from the start, and she has some ideas for other drivers
TIL in 1995 Hayao Miyazaki directed a cyberpunk shortfilm for a rock song after having writer's block. He purposely misinterpreted the lyrics to make the video cryptic to evoke creative interpretations among viewers. SciFi writers and magazines called it "the most perfect short science fantasy film"
https://ift.tt/39tMpKY
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 07:40PM by berutto
via reddit https://ift.tt/3oMjOqM
https://ift.tt/39tMpKY
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 07:40PM by berutto
via reddit https://ift.tt/3oMjOqM
Wikipedia
On Your Mark
1995 film directed by Hayao Miyazaki
TIL that Britain's worst nuclear accident, would have been much worse, were it not for Sir John Douglas Cockcroft. Whom insisted on installing filters onto the exhaust shaft of the Windscale Nuclear Power Plant. When the accident happened the radioactive dust was reduced by 95%.
https://ift.tt/33Xcn4L
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 09:20PM by VeryCriticalCritic
via reddit https://ift.tt/2Ltn6RD
https://ift.tt/33Xcn4L
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 09:20PM by VeryCriticalCritic
via reddit https://ift.tt/2Ltn6RD
BBC News
Windscale Piles: Cockcroft's Follies avoided nuclear disaster
They were labelled a waste of time and money, but in 1957 the bulging tips of Windscale Piles saved much of northern England from becoming a nuclear wasteland after a fire broke out in the reactor room. However, soon the last one will be gone.
TIL that after Booth assassinated Lincoln by shooting him the back of the head, the largest manhunt in US history, involving thousands of troops and countless civilians, tracked him down to a barn. As he attempted escape, Sergeant Boston Corbett killed Booth by shooting him in the back of the head.
https://ift.tt/35JIs46
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 09:07PM by geekteam6
via reddit https://ift.tt/35KWFNV
https://ift.tt/35JIs46
Submitted January 15, 2021 at 09:07PM by geekteam6
via reddit https://ift.tt/35KWFNV
Wikipedia
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1865 murder of the 16th President of the United States
TIL Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 and further investigated it across his lifetime. He died in 1997 aged 90, less than a decade before the New Horizons launch to Pluto. To honour his wishes his ashes were launched inside the spacecraft, making it the longest post mortem fight ever recorded.
https://ift.tt/35HbdxZ
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:29AM by rasarota
via reddit https://ift.tt/3sweGt6
https://ift.tt/35HbdxZ
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:29AM by rasarota
via reddit https://ift.tt/3sweGt6
The Verge
Pluto’s discoverer is almost home
NASA's New Horizons probe officially entered Pluto's sphere of gravitational influence last week, and this Tuesday, more than nine years after leaving Earth, the spacecraft will perform a flyby of...
TIL about Judith Catchpole, a young maidservant in the colony of Maryland, who was tried in 1656 for witchcraft and killing her newborn child. The judge summoned an all-female jury, who determined that Judith did not kill her child - in fact, there were no signs that Judith had even been pregnant.
https://ift.tt/3oP4Yjq
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:12AM by WouldbeWanderer
via reddit https://ift.tt/3iilO7K
https://ift.tt/3oP4Yjq
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:12AM by WouldbeWanderer
via reddit https://ift.tt/3iilO7K
Wikipedia
Judith Catchpole
Judith Catchpole, a young maidservant in colonial America, was tried in 1656 for witchcraft and infanticide before one of the earliest all-female juries in the United States. According to popular belief, all-female juries did not occur until much later. The…
TIL Patricia Demauro walked to a craps table at Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa with $100. Four hours and 18 minutes later, Demauro had rolled the World Record for Craps Rolls. She rolled 154 times, the odds of accomplishing this is 1 in 1.56 trillion.
https://ift.tt/3nI12Q8
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:35AM by DrawFluent
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KmuM7y
https://ift.tt/3nI12Q8
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:35AM by DrawFluent
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KmuM7y
TIME.com
Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com
The chances of a 154-roll craps game are near-impossible -- "near" being the key word, as New Jersey resident Patricia Demauro showed last Saturday at an Atlantic City casino.
TIL about Kelly the dolphin, who singly finnedly strategized a capitalistic method of tricking her "trainers". She was given fish for retrieving pieces of trash from her enclosure, and began to hide whole pieces of trash, tearing the smallest possible piece off at a time, and taught others as well.
https://ift.tt/2Oqv6Ce
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 03:21AM by Zephylia
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ihP8eu
https://ift.tt/2Oqv6Ce
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 03:21AM by Zephylia
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ihP8eu
Hakai Magazine
Kelly, the Sassy Dolphin | Hakai Magazine
What can one brash dolphin teach us about personality?
TIL that roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin. In the 1880's businessman LaMarcus Thompson didn't like people going to brothels, so he invented the rollercoaster to persuade people to go there instead
https://ift.tt/328DbPc
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:52AM by ParadoxFlame
via reddit https://ift.tt/3soMhoZ
https://ift.tt/328DbPc
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:52AM by ParadoxFlame
via reddit https://ift.tt/3soMhoZ
Smithsonianmag
The Rollercoaster Was Invented to Save America From Satan
In the 1880s, LaMarcus Thompson was troubled by America's slide into hedonism and immorality. Out of that concern, we got the rollercoaster
TIL that the USSR used the phrase "And you are hanging Blacks" to criticize the hypocrisy of the US pointing fingers at Soviet human rights abuses while still perpetrating lynchings.
https://ift.tt/1jeKp7U
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 03:58AM by Thomaswiththecru
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bMBMps
https://ift.tt/1jeKp7U
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 03:58AM by Thomaswiththecru
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bMBMps
Wikipedia
And you are lynching Negroes
Soviet catchphrase
TIL in Excel ’95, if you follow a series of complex steps, a window called the “Hall of Tortured Souls” appears. In this reference to Doom, you can roam a 3D, first-person environment and discover a room with the names of Excel ’95’s developers and a low-resolution photo of the team.
https://ift.tt/2K0pDy0
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 05:20AM by haddock420
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bJnJkH
https://ift.tt/2K0pDy0
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 05:20AM by haddock420
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bJnJkH
How-To Geek
The Best Retro Easter Eggs in Windows and Microsoft Office
Throughout the 1990s, Microsoft developers were in a race of one-upmanship to produce the most elaborate secret “Easter eggs.” These included games of pinball, racing, and even flight simulators, all hidden within Office and Windows. Let’s take a look back…
TIL saving data to an SSD, RAM, flash memory, etc. increases its weight by an extremely small amount. One calculation states that 1GB of flash memory completely filled with 1s weighs something like 729 femtograms more than the same memory filled with zeros.
https://ift.tt/2LP8889.
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:06AM by TemporaryPrimate
via reddit https://ift.tt/35KpDh0
https://ift.tt/2LP8889.
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:06AM by TemporaryPrimate
via reddit https://ift.tt/35KpDh0
Langa.com
Yes, your HDDs and SSDs really do weigh more when filled with data.
It’s odd: Questions about the physical weight of data get asked fairly often — I don’t know what’s prompting it. Perhaps the move to SSDs? The most recent iteration phrased …
TIL: In 2018, doctors found that a patient, Kendra Jackson, had a leaky brain for 5 years. After an accident in 2013, she had a daily runny nose for years and suffered headaches. She lost half a pint of brain fluid a day through her nose.
https://ift.tt/2wp3ENl
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 10:47AM by Kingflares
via reddit https://ift.tt/35GG2Dd
https://ift.tt/2wp3ENl
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 10:47AM by Kingflares
via reddit https://ift.tt/35GG2Dd
TIL a BBC analysis of 19 chocolate products between 2014 and 2018, revealed that 18 of them had shrunk in size. The worst hit by ‘shrinkflation’ in the study was a four-pack of Snickers, which reduced by 28.1%, from 232g to 167g
https://ift.tt/3bLSgOS
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:48PM by ahm713
via reddit https://ift.tt/2LGEMZM
https://ift.tt/3bLSgOS
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:48PM by ahm713
via reddit https://ift.tt/2LGEMZM
TIL Dogs like to be with you when you poop because when animals are pooping they are vulnerable. Thus, in packs, they take turns pooping and a few of them stay for being lookouts in case they are attacked.
https://ift.tt/2XIyMlO.
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:02PM by YOitsibzi
via reddit https://ift.tt/3oTVzaq
https://ift.tt/2XIyMlO.
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:02PM by YOitsibzi
via reddit https://ift.tt/3oTVzaq
Family Handyman
Why Does My Dog Follow Me Into the Bathroom?
We'll tell you why your dog follows you into the bathroom and more about the strange behavior of man's best friend.
TIL that Bruce McAllister, a 16 year-old student, in 1963 wrote to 150 authors to settle a dispute with his English teacher about textual symbolism. More than 75 replied, including Ray Bradbury, John Updike, and Saul Bellow. McAllister later became an acclaimed author and literature professor.
https://ift.tt/2MZKqXh
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:17PM by twiggez-vous
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bKd7SD
https://ift.tt/2MZKqXh
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 01:17PM by twiggez-vous
via reddit https://ift.tt/3bKd7SD
The Paris Review
Document: The Symbolism Survey - The Paris Review
In 1963, a sixteen-year-old San Diego high school student named Bruce McAllister sent a four-question mimeographed survey to 150 well-known authors of literary, commercial, and science fiction. Did they consciously plant symbols in their work? he asked. Who…
TIL of the Utah teapot, a computer rendered 3D model created in 1975 at Uni. of Utah, based on a Melitta teapot, and since used as a standard reference object in computer graphics community. The teapot maker only learnt of the product's fame in 2017, whereupon they officially renamed it Utah Teapot
https://ift.tt/1EHx9Bs
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 02:15PM by Sansabina
via reddit https://ift.tt/2XOgoYG
https://ift.tt/1EHx9Bs
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 02:15PM by Sansabina
via reddit https://ift.tt/2XOgoYG
Wikipedia
Utah teapot
3D test model
TIL of John, a teen who was the first person in the UK charged with inciting his own murder. He found his real-life friend Mark in a chatroom and convinced Mark to kill him (John) via a web of fictional characters. Mark stabbed John, convinced the CIA had ordered him to.
https://ift.tt/3nSJFvU
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:11PM by -darkest-timeline-
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ijEAM0
https://ift.tt/3nSJFvU
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 12:11PM by -darkest-timeline-
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ijEAM0
Crime+Investigation UK
The boy who incited his own murder
TIL: Dedicated Japanese monks spent years going through the horrifying process of turning themselves into mummies... while still alive. Viewing their bodies is now one of the world's creepiest tourist attractions.
https://ift.tt/38NwTKU
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 03:53PM by Too_Many_Mind_
via reddit https://ift.tt/38PoF5a
https://ift.tt/38NwTKU
Submitted January 16, 2021 at 03:53PM by Too_Many_Mind_
via reddit https://ift.tt/38PoF5a
escape.com.au
Is this the world's creepiest tourist attraction?
Dedicated Japanese monks spent years going through the horrifying process of turning themselves into mummies ... while still alive. Viewing their bodies is now one of the world's creepiest tourist attractions.