› added 11 years ago

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TIL- Emperor Hirohito of Japan was a huge fan of Mickey Mouse. He was given a Mickey Mouse watch as a gift during his special tour of Disneyland in 1975. For years, even on formal occasions, His Majesty was observed wearing the watch.

N7DPb TIL policeman Bob Geary used a dummy as his partner. A new police chief disallowed its usage, so Geary worked to put the usage of the dummy on the ballot. The referendum passed and Geary used the dummy until his retirement 7 years later, at which time the mayor declared the day "Officer Geary Day."
QNMYk TIL that Alan Turing, the mathematician renowned for his contributions to computer science and codebreaking, converted his savings into silver during WW2 and buried it, fearing German invasion. However, he was unable to break his own code describing where it was hidden, and never recovered it.
4Jkg TIL the inventor of the windshield wiper Mary Anderson was granted a patent for it in 1903, she tried to sell the rights in 1905 and was told that it held no commercial value and was unable to sell it. 19 years later, they became standard equipment on every vehicle.
x5Gw TIL A horse’s field of vision is nearly 360 degrees with only a small blind spot directly behind them.
ne8yG TIL Raining animals is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals fall from the sky. It is now accepted that there is only co-incidental association between animals perceived to be falling from the sky and meteorological or earthquake related phenomena.