› added 11 years ago

76

TIL that in the book that Russell Crowe’s film “Master and Commander” is based on, the villain is an American ship during the war of 1812. The producers didn’t want to alienate American audiences, so they made the villain French and shifted the timeframe to the Napoleonic Wars.

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via reddit.com

AZjg TIL during prohibition Herbert Hoover would go to the Belgian embassy to have martinis, as it was not illegal to possess alcohol on foreign soil.
9wOP7 TIL the Luddites were not anti-technology. They were highly-skilled laborers who protested wage reduction and job replacement due to automation.
OGQPX TIL Scrabble apparently has world titles and even an ELO ranking
RZv7 TIL when he became President Eisenhower allowed his son to serve in the Korean war only on one condition: that he promise never be captured alive
9jKm TIL The USA is one of the last countries that hasn’t combined Boy and Girl Scouts.