› added 8 years ago

162

TIL learned that in the 1790s, the Guillotine was so popular, they made child sized one for kids to behead their dolls and rodents, and the wealthy had tiny ones on their dining table, for slicing bread.

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aw1N TIL Michael Buffer, the boxing announcer has earned at least $400 million from the catchphrase “let’s get ready to rumble!”
GxoG TIL that in 1948, people believed a 15 ft tall penguin existed. Zoologist Ivan Sanderson invested and claimed it not a hoax. It turned out to be Tony Signorini stomping around in the sand wearing 30-pound, 3-toed lead shoes as a prank for 10 years.
5dPp TIL Frank Zappa was invited to perform in Live Aid concert (to raise funds for relief of the Ethiopian famine) but he refused, calling the event “the biggest cocaine money laundering scheme of all time.”
9Yj07 TIL an expedition to find the Niger River accidentally chose the Niger River as a starting point.
4bG5 TIL in 2010, the floor of a Weight Watchers clinic in Sweden collapsed beneath a group of 20 members who were in line for their weekly weigh in. The floor collapsed in one corner of the room, fault lines spread, & other sections of the floor gave way. Nobody was hurt.