› added 10 years ago

118

TIL outlaw Jesse James once gave a poor widow who housed him in her farmhouse $1,400 to pay off her debts. When the debt collecter arrived, he hid outside until he left the home, robbed him, took back the $1,400 and rode off.

Read more futilitycloset.com

via reddit.com

N7J5Q TIL that Roald Dahl was originally going to write about a giant cherry in James in the Giant Peach, but changed it to a peach because a peach is "prettier, bigger and squishier than a cherry."
e0WPE TIL Tom Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln. Tom Hanks is a third cousin, four generations removed, of former President Abraham Lincoln. Their common ancestor is John Hanks (1680 - 1740), who was the great-great-grandfather of Lincoln and the six-time great-grandfather of Tom Hanks.
wjE1 TIL an estimated one third of the population will often sneeze when looking at the sun or a bright source of light; this is due to a genetic quirk known as the photic sneeze reflex; a condition described by neurologists as having to do with crossed wires in the brain
8elM8 TIL: Narnia is/was a real place in the Roman Empire
wgR1 TIL Victor Wong, Egg from Big Trouble in Little China, died as a result of exhaustion due to staying up and watching the wall to wall coverage of the 9/11 attacks