Timothy J. Jorgensen delved into the weird history of energy drinks:

• Today’s energy drinks provide energy through chemical stimulants like caffeine.
• In the past though they provided actual energy. RadiThor was radium (a radioactive element which releases radiation) dissolved in water sold in the 1920s.
• This energy is, despite what The Hulk would have you believe, entirely useless at providing an energy boost to human beings.
• The dangers of radium were well known at the time. On the other hand a study had shown that Radithor increased “the sexual passion of water newts”. It was a successful product.
• Fortunately, radium is expensive, limiting the number of people who could afford it, and thus the number of people who suffered radiation sickness.
• Its chief celebrity endorser developed a psychological addiction to the drink, and died from radiation related complications.
• His radioactive skeleton is buried in a lead-lined coffin.

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Via: Reddit