› added 11 years ago

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TIL that in 1863, Jules Verne wrote “Paris in the 20th Century,” a manuscript which predicted everything from glass skyscrapers to feminism to a statistical rise in illegitimate births; his publisher advised him against publishing it as it “broke no new ground” and was “unbelievable”

yQV7w TIL when Lord of the Rings cast members Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Sean Bean got matching tattoos, John Rhys-Davies sent his stunt double to get the tattoo instead.
16OeV TIL that the rivalry between the neighboring cities of Minneapolis and St Paul was once so strong that during the 1890 US Census, each city began arresting or kidnapping the other's census takers in order to curb their rival's population.
4yQo TIL that MI5 once had a plan to use Gerbils to detect terrorists/spies at airports, as their sense of smell can acutely detect increased adrenalin in people. The project was scrapped when the Gerbils proved unable to tell the difference between terrorists and those afraid of flying.
N74M1 TIL Benjamin Franklin had an abusive older brother who forced him to sign an indenture until he was 21 in Boston. His brother was abusive partly because Benjamin showed talent. At age 17, he ran away penniless to Philadelphia, gained connections and jump-started his political career.
6gRJ TIL the Slovakian women’s hockey team qualified for the 2010 Olympics by beating Bulgaria 82-0, and then lost to team Canada in Vancouver 18-0