› added 7 years ago

279

TIL that Orson Welles staged an all black production of Macbeth, with Haitian Vodouists as the witches. Percy Hammond gave it a bad review, and one vodouist created a doll in Hammond’s likeness, stabbing it repeatedly. Hammond was found dead shortly after.

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N7dBe TIL the Japanese officer who proposed the use of Kamikaze pilots during World War 2 shot himself post-war out of guilt for sending so many young men to their deaths.
8aQ9b TIL due to a typo, the Japanese company Mizuho Securities tried to sell 610,000 shares for a yen each (less than a penny) instead of 1 share for 610,000 yen (around $5,000). Despite three separate attempts to cancel it, the Tokyo Stock Exchange processed it anyway, costing the company $225 million.
yVkNv TIL Genghis Khan invented biological warfare and flung plague-infested bodies into cities during sieges, and is the reason for the Black Death being introduced to Europe.
LkABv TIL mud-dauber wasp nests can last for 20-30,000 years.
AVb7 TIL that the cost of “Prometheus” movie budget would be enough to keep the search for real extraterrestrial life going for 52 years