1FICO Credit Score Origins
The FICO credit score started in 1989, and people used to be able to get approved for a mortgage with a letter of recommendation from their priest.
2. The White House used to be open to the public, and in 1829, a rowdy crowd of 20,000 people celebrating Andrew Jackson's inauguration had to be lured out with washtubs filled with orange juice and whiskey.
3. It used to be common for politicians in the USA to bribe voters with booze, a practice known as "swilling the planters with bumbo."
4. Human zoos used to once be a popular attraction in the western world, and Belgium closed their last one in 1958.
5. MRIs were initially named NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging), but the word 'nuclear' was later dropped due to negative associations.
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6Chicken Glasses for Pecking
Chickens used to be fitted with tiny glasses, especially rose-colored ones, to prevent eye-pecking and cannibalism, as they were thought to prevent chickens from seeing blood and becoming enraged.
7. It used to be illegal in the United States for actors to wear military uniforms in a production portraying the military negatively, until the Supreme Court ruled in 1970 that this was a violation of the First Amendment.
8. Previews used to be shown at the end of a movie, which is why they are referred to as "trailers."
9. Antarctica used to be called Australia until modern-day Australia appropriated its name in 1824, leaving the continent nameless until its current name was adopted in the 1890s.
10. Tug-of-war used to be an Olympic sport. In the 1912 Olympics in Sweden, the host nation took gold, Great Britain took silver, and no one won bronze because only two teams showed up.
11Car Trunk Origins
The car trunk literally used to be a trunk strapped to the back of the car.
12. The ampersand used to be the 27th letter of the alphabet.
13. Colored toilet paper used to be popular in the U.S. until the 1980s. It was colored to better match different bathroom decors, and it is still widely used in France today.
14. Chicken wings used to be discarded as waste, but a creative restaurant owner who was out of food, barbecued and served them in 1964, creating buffalo wings. He named it after the city, not the animal.
15. During the early 1900s, women in the USA and Britain used to wear foot-long pins in their hats, which could be used in self-defense to stab men who groped or assaulted them.
16Romans' Hallucinogenic Fish Parties
The ancient Romans used to eat hallucinogenic fish at parties to get high.
17. During WWII, the German footwear company Continental used to test their rubber boot soles by using concentration camp prisoners who would march 30-40 km per day. The SS executed those who slowed down or fell.
18. US presidents used to give out special presidential packs of cigarettes to guests boarding Air Force One. They were later changed to packs of presidential M&M's over health concerns.
19. Southern sweet tea was originally used to show wealth, as tea, ice, and sugar were all very expensive at the time.
20. Dunkin' Donuts' donuts used to have a handle on them to dunk the donuts.
21Spanish Noblewomen and Clay Pots
Spanish noblewomen used to eat clay pots. The habit caused a paler complexion (due to anemia), which was considered attractive. It also served as a contraceptive since the negative health effects caused a delay in menstrual cycles, leading to death in some cases.
22. 7-Up used to contain lithium citrate, a known mood stabilizer that is still used today to treat bipolar disorder and mania.
23. Royal women used to give birth in front of an audience to prove that the child was indeed the fruit of the royal woman's womb.
24. Before the Internet, chess players used to play each other all over the world by taking turns mailing a postcard to each other describing the move they had made.
25. Before 1954, stop signs used to be yellow with black lettering because there was no red dye that would not fade over time. However, by 1954, sign makers began using fade-resistant porcelain enamel, and it was declared that stop signs would be red with white lettering.
