› added 1 week ago

10

TIL during World War Two, the Taraxacum kok-saghyz, rubber-producing dandelions, were used in the Soviet Union, the United States, the UK, Germany, Sweden and Spain as substitute for Hevea brasiliensis

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

9Y14X TIL: The USA long held the record for having the World's Tallest Chair --until 2014 when St. Florian, Austria's, great Lutz chair left much worldwide lesser giant furniture in the dust. XXXLutz and Holzleimbauwerk Wiehag GmbH worked together to build the epic seat that stands almost 100 feet tall.
JYBBj TIL Tom Selleck was cast as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark but had to drop out due to his commitment to do the Magnum PI pilot, so the role went to Harrison Ford. Production on Magnum was delayed for over 6 months by a writers' strike, which would have enabled Selleck to complete Raiders
gMbNX TIL Sir David Lean's 1948 film adaption of Oliver Twist was banned in Israel for Sir Alec Guinness's performance as Fagin, which it considered too anti-Semitic. Egypt banned it for portraying Fagin too sympathetically
L0mQ TIL That O.J. Simpson was going to be the Terminator, but was cut because the director couldn’t imagine him as a ruthless killer.
kOn1B TIL Welsh actor Johnathan Pryce played an Argentinian-born head of state twice. As Juan Peron in 'Evita' and Pope Francis in 'The Two Popes'.