› added 5 years ago

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TIL that Scooby-Doo's characters were based on a popular teenage sitcom from the 1950's called "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"; Shaggy was based on a character played by Bob Denver, aka Gilligan from Gilligan's Island.

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40Kw TIL that during WW2 a Spanish man convinced the Nazis that he was a spy living in London, and fed them false information. This grew to him working for Britain with captured spies, creating a fictional network of other spies, and being awarded a medal from both Britain AND Nazi Germany.
6ExLZ TIL Japanese women are required by the Maternal Child Health Act to register their pregnancies with the local government, and encouraged to be vigilant by utilizing the Maternal and Child Health Handbook distributed upon registration. Over 90% of pregnancies are registered by the 20th week.
jBxE TIL when baseball player Chuck Finley was told of his ex-wife’s allegations against him of heavy steroid, alcohol, and marijuana use, he responded with “I can’t believe she left out the cross-dressing.”
nWLnP TIL Formula 1 cars generate enough downforce at high speeds to theoretically drive upside down. At full speed, they create 2.5x their weight in downforce and pull 3.5g in corners, making drivers feel nearly 45 lbs of force on their heads and struggle to breathe, requiring extreme fitness to endure.
Z8LYo TIL Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui studied agricultural economics in the United States at Iowa State University (M.A., 1953) and Cornell University (Ph.D., 1968). He served as a professor of economics and contributed much to Taiwan’s agricultural development