› added 10 years ago

183

TIL the song “Ol’ Man River” changed a lyric from “Niggers” to “Darkies” to “Colored Folk” to “We all” over the course of 20 years starting in 1927.

Read more lyricsplayground.com

via reddit.com

l7gKN TIL that when an escalator was first installed in a London department store "customers unnerved by the experience were revived by shopmen dispensing free smelling salts and cognac"
loAvN TIL that Imhotep was an Egyptian architect, physician, and advisor to four pharaohs. He lived around 2667-2600 B.C. Imhotep practiced early medicine nearly 2200 years before Hippocrates and designed Djoser’s step pyramid at saqqara. He is the only Egyptian besides Amenhotep to ever be fully deified.
NX7P8 TIL During the 1930 Indianapolis 500, Chet Miller's car had suffered suspension failure and was not allowed to continue until it was fixed. With no parts on hand, mechanics went to a spectator's car in the infield, and took parts off of it. Then replaced them post race without the owner knowing.
lomdG TIL that in the Roman Empire, sentencing for crimes depended on the relative "worth" of the defendant: upper classes could pay a fine when convicted of a crime for which lower classes might be whipped
9mmD TIL that on November 22, 1963, just hours after JFK’s assassination, comedian Lenny Bruce performed a scheduled nightclub gig. Bruce walked up on stage and stood in silence for a few moments. Then, referring to the famed JFK impersonator, he stated in a sad voice “Boy, is Vaughn Meader fucked.”