69RXX TIL in the 1982 film Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the song “London Bridges” was chosen as the melody for the Silver Shamrock jingle simply because it was available in the public domain, and therefore saving the filmmaker’s the cost of licensing a song or hiring someone to write a jingle.
woJVo TIL that sand tiger sharks are cannabilistic while in utero, with the largest hatchling consuming the smaller, less-developed siblings in the womb.
R5vb7 TIL that in 1961, Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared in New Guinea while collecting artifacts. It's believed he was killed and eaten by local tribesmen.
W7vyY TIL Before there was year-round scheduled ferry service to Prince Edward Island, "professional ice-boat people" were offering passage there as early as the 1820s. During winter crew members and economy passengers got out of the boat and haul 24km over ice covered waters
9wOwG TIL about a man named John Martin who tried to sail from Alaska to China to visit his wife and son in an 8-foot dinghy, but instead washed up in Russia where he was later held for four months awaiting deportation
nWBWb TIL that shrews are not rodents despite being mouse like in appearance and size and some are venomous.
4k9k5 TIL there's a metal band with a parrot as their vocalist.
x6J6w TIL that soldiers in WWI wore medieval body armor (which hadn't been used for 400 years) to protect themselves during close-quarters trench warfare.
5VWVp TIL A heat wave and heat dome are not the same. A heat wave is a prolonged period of abnormally warm weather. However, a heat dome occurs when a high pressure system stalls, trapping a huge mass of hot air underneath. It's like a lid on a pot, trapping the hot air and preventing it from escaping
M7b7a TIL tattooing was a fad among Victorian aristocrats, especially women. They hid their ink, since it was still associated with criminals. King Edward VII, his sons, and Winston Churchill's mother all had tats. The fad spread to the US, where one paper said ~75% of upper class women were tattooed.
j686a TIL a British woman was wrongly convicted of murdering her two sons (born 1996 and 1998) when they really died from SIDS. The little-understood disease caused a jury to believe she smothered them to death. After serving 4 years, she was released in 2003. She died in 2007 from alcohol abuse.
0d7dL TIL that, despite media portrayals to the contrary, young adults tend to make highly rational decisions when it comes to selecting potential romantic partners