› added 9 years ago

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TIL that actor Alan Rickman, who portrayed Snape in the Harry Potter films, knew the full story of the character from the very beginning. When he was asked by directors why he delivered lines certain ways he would say that he “knew something they didn’t.”

gbo9 TIL The Lululemon retail chain’s name came from the founder’s desire to watch Japanese people try to pronounce it
OGY1e TIL Al Capone was only 33 when he was locked away for tax evasion and developed neurosyphilis, leading to his death at 48. Eliot Ness was 27 when he formed the Untouchables--he died in a state of financial ruin in his 50s, likely hastened by his heavy drinking in his later life
dD5dE TIL About the 'Balloon Hoax'. Perpetrated by Edgar Allen Poe in The New York Sun it purported to tell the story of a three day lighter than air balloon trip across the Atlantic. The story was revealed as a hoax two days later.
9YBDM TIL about the Great Stink, where after years of untreated human waste and industrial runoff in the River Thames, the smell became unbearable in London during the summer of 1858. The stench finally caused local and national authorities to address the problem—and also ended outbreaks of cholera.
7A8r TIL Stan Musial and his high school basketball teammates threatened to forfeit a basketball tournament because their hotel’s restaurant wouldn’t seat their two African-American teammates with the rest of the team. One of those players was Buddy Griffey, Ken’s father and Jr’s Grandpa