› added 11 years ago

166

TIL that the Oxford English Dictionary quotes the Beastie Boys nine times

Read more blog.oxforddictionaries.com

via reddit.com

VBOYm TIL between 1999 and 2014 the British Post Office, due to an accounting software glitch, criminally prosecuted 736 people who ran post office branches for theft and false accounting. With many left bankrupt or in prison, despite the Post Office becoming aware of a fault in the system in 2010.
6EeZ7 TIL that J.R.R. Tolkien. once received a goblet from a fan inscribed with "One Ring to Rule Them All..." inscribed on the rim in black speech. Tolkien never drank out of it, since it was written in an accursed language, and instead used it as an ashtray.
kevE TIL that critic Michael Crowley gave such a poor review of one of author Michael Crichton’s books, that Crichton made a character ‘Mick Crowley’ in his next book, who was a child molester with a small penis.
v1nZ8 TIL In 1969, a group of researchers trained cockroaches to race, built them a transparent case and 'invited' other cockroaches as an audience. Those 'racers' who had their species looking at them were able to race faster than those without.
VMrZm TIL Each episode of A.L.F. (Alien Life Form) took 20-25 hours to shoot and was extremely demanding on the crew. Max Wright, the dad in the show, despised supporting a demanding inanimate object and at one time become "crazed", physically attacking the puppet.