› added 4 years ago

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TIL that a coin toss decided that Portland, OR should be named after its namesake in Maine. The other proposition was Boston.

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LQAZv TIL - Indonesia has 3 tiger subspecies. The Bali tiger vanished in the 1940s, while the last confirmed sighting of the Javan tiger occurred in the 1970s. This left only the Sumatran tiger, with an estimated population of fewer than 400 individuals, as the sole surviving tiger subspecies in Indonesia
xZKo TIL that if space wasn’t soundproof, we would hear the Sun burning at over 100 decibels, or as loud as a chainsaw from 5 meters away.
Egnjd TIL years before playing Dracula, Bela Lugosi had served as a lieutenant in World War I. At one point, he was helping protect a forest and left his post at a tree to give an officer first aid. When he came back, he found the tree to have been blown into many pieces and wept out of gratitude to God.
gDQ9 TIL Harrison Ford was offered the leading role in Schindler’s List (Liam Neeson’s role) but declined, saying that some people would not be able to look past him as a star to see the importance of the film.
M7Vy0 TIL As Germany was about to lose the First World War Erich Ludendorff was forced to resign and escaped the country on a false passport while wearing a fake beard. While in Sweden he wrote his memoirs which were considered a showcase of his "caesar-mania".