› added 11 years ago

101

TIL Western science hadn’t yet discovered the Gorilla when Darwin was writing ‘On The Origin of Species’

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b9eZa TIL the only university that would allow the movie Animal House to film on their campus was the University of Oregon. The Dean of the school had previously refused to allow The Graduate to film there and didn't want to miss another opportunity so he gave them full access without reading the script
vVWr TIL: To camouflage aircraft factories in suburban Los Angeles during WWII, the military built simulated neighborhoods on their rooftops complete with fake cars, roads, homes and foliage. Actors were hired to inhabit these spaces too.
0wdwj TIL In the skies over Germany in WWII, a badly damaged American B-17 was escorted out of enemy airspace by a German fighter ace who could've easily shot them down. Years later after the war, Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler reunited and became lifelong friends.
wLnw6 TIL of the Texas City Disaster, the deadliest industrial accident in United States history. The explosion, caused by a ship full of ammonium nitrate catching fire, was so large that the ship's anchor serves as a memorial to the explosion where it landed... a mile and a half inland.
vPNDx TIL about Emperor Norton, an eccentric with no formal power. Dressed in full regalia he would inspect the streets of San Francisco and give edicts which were published by the newspapers. Some businesses even accepted currency with his face on it. When he died over 10,000 people viewed his body.