› added 11 years ago

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TIL of Giant MacAskill, the largest ‘naturally proportioned’ giant to ever live. Still holding the record for largest chest measurements of any 'non obese’ person, he once lifted a 1000 LB anchor to prove a point.

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ne9NY TIL that in 1452 a Hungarian engineer, known as Orban, offered to sell an extremely powerful cannon to the Roman Emperor. He refused, so Orban instead sold the cannon to the Ottoman emperor, who used it to breach the walls of Constantinople in 1453, which brought the end to the Roman Empire
VLj0 TIL in 1919 Winston Churchill wrote “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.” He was referring to the war in Mesopotamia
mWvv TIL While filming “Indiana Jones”, the crew played a joke on Harrison Ford. While chained to a large stone, Barbara Streisand appeared in a dominatrix outfit. She proceeded to whip him before Carrie Fisher then threw herself in front of Ford to protect him. This entire sequence was filmed.
yG4p TIL that a young Richard Branson had his flight to the Virgin Islands cancelled, so he chartered a private airplane. Not having enough money to do so, he picked up a small blackboard, wrote “Virgin Airlines $29” on it, sold tickets for the rest of the seats, and used that money to pay for the ride.
Vm8p TIL The Scottish army tried to take advantage of the Black Plague in England through an invasion, but caught it themselves and brought it back to Scotland, killing half of the native population.