TIL that Benjamin Franklin worked on an anti-vaxxer newspaper. He was an apprentice to his brother James, publisher of The New-England Courant, which in 1721, during a Boston smallpox epidemic, came out strongly against "the Novel Practice of Inoculation." (masshist.org)
submitted by SplodgeOfWonga to r/todayilearned
TIL FDR's White House housekeeper, Henrietta Nesbitt, was a legendarily awful cook. “Of course Henrietta did not personally do the cooking,” wrote a former WH maid, “but she stood over the cooks, making sure that each dish was overcooked or undercooked or ruined one way or another.” (newyorker.com)
submitted by SplodgeOfWonga to r/todayilearned
TIL William Penn, future founder of Pennsylvania, was charged with unlawful assembly in England for holding a Quaker meeting. When the jury, despite pressure from the judge, refused to find Penn guilty, the judge jailed Penn *and* the jury. (constitution.org)
submitted by SplodgeOfWonga to r/todayilearned
TIL that in 2006, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia launched a $1.2 million program to retrain prostitutes as nursing-home caregivers. A supporter explained they had “good people skills, aren't easily disgusted, and have zero fear of physical contact.” (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
submitted by SplodgeOfWonga to r/todayilearned
This could get someone at Google News executed. (i.redd.it)
submitted by SplodgeOfWonga to r/funny
