nWyQb TIL that in 2008, Tesla took the TV series Top Gear to court for libel and malicious falsehood after it suggested one of its vehicles had run out of power after only 55 miles. The High Court of Justice in London rejected Tesla's libel claim in 2011
4kmj5 TIL Marilyn Monroe was instrumental in kickstarting Ella Fitzgerald's career. A 1950's nightclub owner was reluctant to hire an overweight black singer until Monroe intervened saying if he did, she would sit in the front row every night. Once Ella was hired, Marilyn sat in front row for weeks
x67ww TIL that in 1916, German spies sabotaged a US munitions plant in NYC resulting in one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions in history that caused 530 million in property damage, including damaging the Statue of Liberty, and was felt as far away as Philadelphia.
5V1jp TIL that Buster Douglas who was the first man to defeat Mike Tyson, was 6 years older than Tyson and had also recently lost his mother.
M7G9a TIL that almost any violation of the Texas Transportation Code is an arrestable offense, even if the violation carries no punishment other than a fine. The only three exceptions are a) speeding, b) having an open container of alcohol in your car, and c) texting while driving.
j6yDa TIL that Wajda's classic "Ziemia obiecana"/"Promised Land" was supposed to be distributed in USA, but according to Wajda distributors there bought the rights only to keep the film out of cinemas. Scorsese's 2013 Festival described it as "one of the most important critiques of predatory capitalism".
0d1jL TIL sticky rice was used in the brick mortar during the construction of the Great Wall of China and is one of the factors that has kept it standing for so long!
gr5pb TIL: The Parker space probe is the fastest man-made object ever. It reached 394,736 miles per hour (635,266 km per hour) on its mission hurtling around the Sun. That's nearly 400 times faster than a fighter jet and 500 times faster than the speed of sound!
LQAnP TIL about Catherine King and Wayne Adams, who built a floating compound on the west coast of Vancouver Island from salvaged materials and lived on it for more than 30 years.
b6y5Q TIL that Gerald Ford was an assistant coach at Yale and attended law school in the off-season.
QN96e TIL that male dolphins are sexually attracted to female humans... this is so disturbing lol
ANGjd TIL that the Battle of Messines involved the detonation of 19 massive underground mines, causing 10,000 deaths instantly. This explosion is believed to be one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions in history