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TIL that New Zealander Nigel Richards memorised the French dictionary and won a French Scrabble competition. He does not speak French at all.

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b6pLp TIL that in 1966 the glass roof of the Houston Astrodome was painted to reduce glare. However, this reduced the amount of sunlight in the stadium and most of the grass died. A synthetic grass surface called ChemGrass was installed in its place, and Astroturf got its name.
4XZ9a TIL about Jack Churchill, a soldier in WW2 that went into battle carrying a sword, a bow and arrows, and a bagpipe.
bEpZ TIL Rage Against The Machine was told to censor their song, “Killing In The Name” when playing it live on the BBC. They started out censoring it, but towards the end of the song “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!” was repeated 5 times live before the BBC shut off the broadcast.
lonW1 TIL in 1976, a mule named Lord Fauntleroy beat 200 horses in the 3,500-mile Great American Horse Race. Along the way, Norton, the mule’s rider, would often stop to help other riders, beat everyone by 10 hours, and retired with the $25,000 prize while calling himself the “Great American Horseman.”
PMAG TIL that bamboo can be used to make extremely soft yarn for weaving, twice as soft as cotton.