› added 2 years ago

74

TIL Robert Downey Jr has a black belt after doing Wing Chun for 15 years

Read more beatlyzer.com

via beatlyzer.com

YgOG TIL that the bodyguard Walter H. Thompson saved Sir Winston Churchill over 20 times including from shrapnel during the Blitz, plots by the IRA, Indian nationalists, Arab nationalists, Nazi agents, Greek Communists and the deranged.
W7GAL TIL that one of the biggest bestsellers of early modern Europe was the "Malleus Maleficarum" (the "Hammer of Witches")—a guidebook for prosecuting and killing witches. From 1400 to 1775, 100,000 people were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe and America, and around 50,000 were executed in Europe.
5Yl0r TIL in 2016, a Spanish train conductor requested the company he worked for to send someone to relieve him at the end of his shift. When the company failed to do so, the conductor had the train stop in a village and simply went home, leaving 109 passengers stranded.
b9mbN TIL about Robert Cocking who tried to invent an improved parachute design. He was so convinced of his invention that he tested it himself, hanging below a balloon and releasing the parachute in the height of 5,000 ft. He was the first person who died in a parachute accident.
vPVrB TIL the origin of the famous "Take my wife--please!" joke. Comedian Henny Youngman went with his wife to a radio show and asked a stagehand to "take my wife, please" (i.e. escort her to a seat). The stagehand thought it was a joke and laughed, so Henry made it part of his standup routine.