In 1955 at 8:12 PM, British television changed forever when the first commercial advertisement aired on the newly launched ITV network. The 70-second spot for Gibbs SR toothpaste featured the tagline "the tingling fresh toothpaste that does your gums good." This historic moment came just under an hour after ITV began broadcasting, ending the BBC's television monopoly.

The advertisement was created by 26-year-old copywriter Brian Palmer, and its selection as the first ad was purely by chance. Gibbs SR had won a lottery against 23 other companies, including Guinness, Surf, and Brown & Polson custard. No one had deliberately chosen to be first in television advertising history.

The commercial showed actress Meg Smith, who beat 80 other actresses to become Britain's first 'plug girl,' wielding a toothbrush next to a tube of toothpaste embedded in ice. The ice was actually made of plastic because camera lighting caused real ice to melt quickly during filming. The production was primitive by today's standards but groundbreaking for its time.

Despite the basic production values, the advertisement marked a revolutionary moment in British media. The next morning, one critic wrote he had "already forgotten the name of the toothpaste," but television advertising was here to stay. ITV's first night generated £24,000 in revenue, which was donated to charity, launching an industry that would transform British consumer culture forever.

In 1980, Fourteen-year-old Glenn Dunn was shot and killed outside a Buffalo supermarket, becoming the first victim in one of America's most disturbing racially motivated killing sprees. The shooter, Joseph Christopher, concealed his .22 caliber rifle in a brown paper bag, sparking a series of attacks that would terrorize New York communities.

Within 36 hours, Christopher killed three more victims using the same weapon and method. Harold Green was shot while eating at a restaurant in Cheektowaga, Emmanuel Thomas while crossing a street near his Buffalo home, and Joseph McCoy in Niagara Falls. The rapid succession of murders created panic across the region.

The attacks initially appeared random until a deadly pattern emerged - all victims were Black men and boys, revealing the racial hatred driving the crimes. Officials realized they were dealing with a hate-motivated serial killer. The media gave Christopher two nicknames: the ".22-Caliber Killer" for his Buffalo shootings and the "Midtown Stabber" for later attacks in New York City.

Christopher continued his killing spree through 1980 and into 1981, ultimately murdering twelve people and injuring seven others. His downfall came after he bragged about the murders to a nurse while stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. When investigators checked his military records, they discovered he had been on furlough during the exact times of the attacks, leading to his capture and ending the reign of terror.

Golden Market Crash👑
Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 crashed gold prices for a decade. The Mali emperor gave away so much gold in Cairo that it caused massive inflation throughout the Mediterranean - he single-handedly destabilized the entire regional economy through generosity.

The Aztec Invasion⚔️
Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire with only 600 men by exploiting local rivalries and diseases. The Spanish conquistador turned indigenous enemies of the Aztecs into allies, and smallpox killed more Aztecs than Spanish weapons - within two years, a civilization of millions was destroyed by a tiny invasion force.

A Crappy Job💩
Medieval European cities had professional "gong farmers" who cleaned human waste from public latrines and could only work at night. These guys had to climb down into medieval toilets and shovel out years of accumulated human excrement with their bare hands - the job paid well but they were social outcasts who could only work in darkness and were banned from living near other people.

Viking Berzerker’s🍄
The Viking berserkers likely achieved their battle fury through psychoactive mushrooms or extreme meditation. These warriors would eat Amanita Muscaria before battle and enter a state where they’d bite their shields, howl like animals, and hacking people to pieces - ancient super-soldiers powered by shrooms and rage.

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