› added 7 years ago

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TIL on the night of the first script read through for The Princess Bride, Andre the Giant got so drunk he passed out in the hotel lobby. Staff were unable to move him so they set up velvet ropes around him and told the maids not to vacuum.

wLdZW TIL Singer Chubby Checker, famous for the song “The Twist”, sued Hewlett-Packard over an app designed to measure penis size called “Chubby Checker”
N7Rm1 TIL when Dr. Joyce Brothers was a contestant on The $64,000 Question the show’s sponsor Revlon tried to get rid of her because she didn’t wear makeup on air. She was asked increasingly obscure questions but was able to answer them all correctly and became the show’s first woman to win the top prize.
16WXP TIL the word "gunsel" didn't originally mean gunman, it meant catamite. Hammett used the word in the Matlese Falcon because he was sure his editor wouldn't know the real meaning, and the mistaken meaning became common usage.
v1yvr TIL that the Norweigan resistance during WW2, after having their entire sardine catch requisitioned by the Nazis, took revenge by spiking the sardines with croton oil which is an extremely powerful laxative. Britain was so impressed by this that they followed suit by also spiking German supplies
QN7K6 TIL The 80 year old Archbishop of Canterbury refused to delegate Edward VII's coronation despite his ailing health. His speech was printed in gigantic letters so he could see it, he couldn't get back up after kneeling, he placed the crown backwards and yelled "go away!" when asked if he was ok