› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL all have contingency plans if numerous players are killed or severely injured on a team.

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ZB9p TIL of Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese actor who started in the silent era and became one of the first Hollywood sex symbols. He also created his own production company to fight Asian stereotypes, was nominated for an Oscar, became part of the French resistance in WWII and was a Zen master
nVnB TIL When a journalist innocently asked Pope John XXIII, “Your Holiness, how many people work in the Vatican?” He replied, “About half of them.”
JYMvl TIL That There Were Men Castrated in Childhood to Keep Their Prepubescent Voices: "Castrato". Apparently it was because women weren't allowed to sing in the church at the time, so this was their solution to still achieve "women'-like sounds"
Db9J TIL a sound produced on Earth sounds very different if produced on Mars. The composition and pressure of the Martian atmosphere distort sounds to a lower pitch, and planetary.org has samples for you to hear.
wLnQ8 TIL During his speech at a dinner in Kiev in 1972, President Nixon named Kiev the "City of Golden Gates" and compared it to San Francisco