TIL that in the 1950s, Ella Fitzgerald was not allowed to play Hollywood's most popular nightclub, Mocambo, because of her race. Marilyn Monroe, a big fan, called the owner & told him that if he booke
TIL that since the “miracle on the Hudson” water landing by Captain Sullenberger 70,000+ geese have been killed in the NYC area to prevent future bird strikes.
TIL in 1993, the US forced Chinese container ship Yinhe to be stranded at sea by denying it from docking and disabling its GPS service. The suspicion was false, and the incident triggered the creation
TIL that a wooden hunting bow found in a lake in Alaska was radiocarbon dated to approximately 460 years old, despite having been exposed to the elements for an unknown amount of time
TIL a hoard of 2,584 silver coins buried during the 1066 Norman Conquest was found in England. Value at $5.6 million, it has become the highest-value treasure find in English history.
TIL that there are so few Imax 70mm screens because many of the parts needed to build them no longer exist, along with the plans being lost. Between Oppenheimer and the Odyssey, Imax attempted to repa
TIL the researchers who coined the "backfire effect" in 2010 later championed a study that failed to find it. Across 8,100 subjects and 36 issues, corrections backfired on exactly one. The rest of the
TIL Toby Fox considered pitching to Shigesato Itoi that he could help him make a fourth game in the Mother franchise. He changed his mind after Itoi encouraged Fox to make a sequel to Undertale.
TIL the Nazi Wilhelm Kube was assassinated in his Minsk bedroom by his housemaid, Yelena Mazanik, who hid a bomb under his mattress. Mazanik and two co-conspirators were awarded the title “Hero of the
TIL the Ancient Romans had a Spring festival honoring their fertility goddess, Flora, featuring nude dancers, circus performers, and prostitutes parading throughout the streets.
TIL that the Green River Formation in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah has estimated oil shale reserves of 3 Trillion barrels. It is the largest oil shale deposit in the world. The oil is difficult to reco
TIL of A.K. Mozumdar, the first South Asian American who was granted citizenship, who obtained his citizenship by arguing as a “high Caste Hindu” he had pure “Aryan” blood and that those racial origin
TIL when Kesha lost her case vs Dr Luke and had to keep making albums under his label, Sony refused to promote her and she could only play small theaters. Macklemore invited her on a joint tour where
TIL in 2009 Australian scientists discovered that a specie of octopus collects discarded coconut shell halves, carries them across the seafloor by "stilt-walking", then assembles them into a shelter w
TIL machine guns on old war plane were synchronized to the engine with timing gears so they can shoot through the propellers without hitting the blades
TIL playwright/composer Meredith Willson earned more from the Beatles' cover of one of his songs than he did for the hit Broadway musical it came from.
TIL that in 1959, a British expedition took a 5,700-pound elephant across the Alps to test whether Hannibal’s legendary crossing with elephants was actually possible. It was.
