› added 4 years ago

150

TIL in 1997 the second highest rated Chess player in America was a prisoner who played largely through letter correspondence. He was accused of inflating his rating by fixing matches against other inmates, and briefly escaped prison after bolting when permitted to attend a chess tournament.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

kOPoB TIL: After Bugs Bunny referred to Elmer Fudd as a "nimrod", the word began being misinterpreted to mean a dimwitted person. In reality, he was referring to the mighty Biblical hunter of the same name.
XEDYX TIL it is a tradition in the British Navy to sing "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Pythons "Life of Brian" while in desperate straits
wN78 TIL in 1957 Elvis asked his audience at a Seattle concert to please rise for the national anthem. He picked up his guitar, leaned in, shook his hips and began his biggest hit “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog.” The crowd went wild. A 15-year old Jimmy Hendrix was there.
aw6yN TIL in the late 1990s, a man studying the underground chambers of the Colosseum found patterns of holes, notches and grooves in the walls. By connecting the dots of the negative space, he discovered that a system of elevators had been used to transport wild animals and scenery to the main floor.
VBVM4 TIL that BBC Breakfast's resident doctor Nighat Arif has advocated for more women to be given vibrators for medical reasons, on the grounds that orgasms help pelvic floor muscles, lower blood pressure, and release endorphins which help relieve pain.