› added 5 months ago

22

TIL about Abebe Bikila. The first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, he won gold in the marathon at the 1960 Olympics while running barefoot, and again in 1964, making him the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. In 1969, he was paralysed and never walked again

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

D1n8P TIL Andre the Giant loved his role and the movie "The Princess Bride" as Fezzik so much that he invited his wrestling co-stars, including Lanny "Leaping" Poffo to his hotel SIX TIMES to watch the movie and would enthusiastically ask them how he did.
yVvWX TIL that Chuck Taylor All-Stars have been around for over 100 years
ANLGd TIL that in 2013, the British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner streamed the recording of his album live for 5 weeks. His home studio in East London was set up with 4 cameras, to allow fans to follow every detail of recording the album – with no producer or engineer, only Faulkner and a few guests.
O1b1 TIL in a 2009 TED talk about Malaria, Bill Gates brought a jar of mosquitos onto the stage and released them into the crowd to frighten the audience into considering the dangers of Malaria closer to home.
woxV7 TIL that the official language of Malta is a Semitic language, not a European language