› added 3 years ago

25

TIL that one of the top security experts at the FBI, Frank Abagnale, was also one of the most successful con-mans of all time. He posed as a pilot to travel for free on over 250 flights to 25 countries aged between 16-18, and had scammed his father out of $28k (adjusted for inflation) aged just 15.

N4w6 TIL “&” and “and” mean different things in movie credits. Two writers’ names joined with “&” means they collaborated, while “and” means they worked on the script at different times.
pZyp TIL: The answer-question format on Jeapardy! came about after a string of quiz show scandals. Audiences were skeptical that contestants were given the answers, so Merv Griffin built an entire show around giving answers.
jZgp TIL: If the sun was scaled to the size of basketball; Mercury would be the size of a grain of sand-33 feet away, Earth would be the size of a BB shot-86 feet away, Jupiter would be the size of a gumball-445 feet away, and the nearest star would be another basketball-5000 miles away!
OoO74 TIL that not only did then-future Supreme Court Justices William Rehnquist & Sandra Day O'Connor date during their time at Stanford Law School, but he actually asked her to marry him as well. She turned down his proposal. 30 years later, however, they found themselves serving on the Court together.
04rA TIL Roald Dahl, author of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ had all of his teeth pulled out when he was 21, because he thought they were more trouble than they were worth.