› added 7 months ago

17

TIL Philip Oakey of The Human League did not want "Don't You Want Me" to be released as a single because he thought the song was a "poor quality filler track." He finally agreed on the condition that a poster accompany the single so fans wouldn't "feel ripped off." The song became their biggest hit.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

8ajDX TIL that the last surviving wife of a Civil War veteran died just 6 months ago. They married in 1936 while she was 17 and he was 93. This practice was common so that young women could receive the veteran's Civil War pension ($73.13/month). She died in December 2020 at the age of 101.
BggRd TIL Niccolo Paganini's list of likely ailments included Marfan syndrome, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, syphilis and tuberculosis. He was prescribed a chronic "treament" of mercury and opium, with horrible effects to his physical and mental health
6EOjl TIL the pre-printed championship apparel made for the losing team of major sporting events like the Super Bowl are shipped overseas to disaster areas or impoverished nations.
LQ6XZ TIL following the success of the National Lampoon's Animal House, Mad magazine lent its name to the comedy film, Up the Academy but it was such a commercial and critical failure that Mad arranged for all references to the magazine to be removed from future TV and video releases of the film.
aw1Zy TIL: There's a tiny chunk of Russia located two countries west of Russia. Like East Germany, it's land the Red Army conquered in the last year of WWII. Unlike East Germany, the Russians are still in control of the ex-Prussian/ex-German area of Königsberg --called since WWII the Kaliningrad Oblast.