Post * 7y1x — Curious Curator

› added 10 years ago

109

TIL that Jamie Foxx’s real name is Eric Marlon Bishop and he changed his name when he found that female comedians were often called first to perform. feeling that it was a name ambiguous enough to disallow any biases.

Read more

RNKw TIL the Swiss Guard, known now as the guys in the silly costumes that stand around the Vatican holding halberds, once stood against an army as it sacked Rome. 189 Guard stood against 20,000 invaders at the Vatican long enough for Pope Clement VII to escape the city.

b9aXj TIL multiple American POWs in the hands of the Japanese were used as subjects in medical experiments. In one such experiment, an anesthetized prisoner had his entire lung removed, and in another, doctors drilled through the skull of a live prisoner.

W7XbX TIL that on warning of a likely missile launch against the USA, the Pentagon and Strategic Command war rooms, have one minute to brief the president, who then has roughly only six minutes to decide whether and how to respond.

LQPVr TIL the creator of version control software Git, Linus Torvalds, once quipped about the name "git" (which is British English slang for an unpleasant or silly person): "I'm an egotistical bastard, and I name all my projects after myself. First 'Linux', now 'git'."

eGZJ TIL the character of “Phoebe” from Friends is based on the waitress Ursula from “Mad About You.” The producers liked Lisa Kudrow so much they made Phoebe a more humorous version of Ursula and decided they would be twins.