/f/todayilearned
TIL about Janet Parker, the last person to die of smallpox in 1978. She worked above one of the last labs in its last months of permission to study the virus. The day Janet's viral strain was confirmed, Henry Bedson, the doctor in charge of the lab, took his own life.
whyy.orgSubmitted by w0mpum t3_11aw8gz
TIL the deacon Saint Lawrence was roasted alive on a giant grill during the persecution of Valerian. The poet Prudentius tells that he joked with his tormentors, "Turn me over—I'm done on this side". He is now the patron saint of cooks, chefs, and comedians.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by ALasagnaForOne t3_11dqv3q
TIL about Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American film star. Her career began in silent movies era and continued to her death. One of the first to adopt the flapper style of the 20s, she was voted “world’s best dressed woman” in 1934. She will be featured in the American Women quarter series.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by ActuallyCausal t3_y8h0ae
[TIL] Early in his career, Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, had a habit of getting into fights. He once had a shootout with a competitor, Matt Stewart. After Stewart shot and killed one of Sanders' employees, Stewart was convicted of murder, eliminating Sanders' competition.
entrepreneur.comSubmitted by OvidPerl t3_zfsf0j
TIL Bob Hoover, an American Spitfire pilot in WW2, was shot down over occupied France and captured but was able to escape from the POW camp 16 months later, steal a German fighter, and fly it from northern Germany to friendly territory in Holland.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by MetaSatakOz t3_10hyd66
TIL - English physician William Harvey was a prominent skeptic regarding allegations of witchcraft. He was one of the examiners of four women from Lancashire accused of witchcraft in 1634, and as a consequence of his report, all of them were acquitted.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by wendalltwolf t3_118oggo
TIL that before Lincoln Center could reward David Geffen's $100 Million donation by renaming "Avery Fisher Hall" to "David Geffen Hall", they had to pay the heirs of Fisher - the original donor - $15 million. Geffen's donation has a provision that requires his name to be on the hall "in perpetuity".
playbill.comSubmitted by AspireAgain t3_y464wu
TIL In the West the largest meal of the day has historically been eaten at midday. It was not until Napoleon's empire there was the "abominable habit of dining as late as seven in the evening" as British travelers reported. The British adopted later dinners by 1850 from changes in work schedules.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_127hmlf
TIL in the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, a local style of accordion folk music known as Famo has sprung a fierce bloody gang war which has contributed to its high homicide rate. Little-known to the outside world, scores of musicians and hundreds of DJs, fans, family members etc. have been slain.
bbc.comSubmitted by delano1998 t3_123xxjg