› added 11 years ago

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TIL that in 2009, Chinese press agencies spoke about a Swedish town called “Chako Paul City”. Men were allegedly banned and all 25,000 residents were sex-craving females who often turned to lesbianism. Although the town didn’t exist, millions of Chinese men still flocked Swedish tourist-companies.

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b9jra TIL the epic historical film, Quo Vadis (1951), grossed $21 million at the box office in 1951, which is $210,000,000 today. It used 32,000 costumes and over 30,000 extras appeared. Its success is credited with saving "MGM" from bankruptcy. It was filmed at Benito Mussolini's film studio in Rome.
J1lMQ TIL On November 2nd, 1963, Reviewing The Beatles' concert the night before in Cheltenham, England, the British paper Daily Mirror uses the headline "BEATLEMANIA! It's happening everywhere ... even in sedate Cheltenham"; effectively inserting the phrase into the popular consciousness.
oRyXY TIL that "The Wizard of Oz" is an allegory for late 19th century populism
R7ngl TIL Marshmallows were originally made from from the mallow plant, which grows in marshes..
XgaE TIL in 1978 a US Navy ship was attacked by an unknown species of giant squid. Nearly all of the cuts found on the ship contained remnants of sharp, curved claws found on suction cups of some squid tentacles. The claws were much larger than those of any squid that had been discovered at that time.