› added 11 years ago

275

TIL that, fourteen years after publication, Dr. Seuss removed a reference to pollution in Lake Erie from THE LORAX. Researchers informed him that the environmental efforts to restore the lake had been successful. The line was changed in subsequent editions.

Read more mentalfloss.com

via reddit.com

PWoZ TIL two men were brought up on federal hacking charges when they exploited a bug in video poker machines and won half a million dollars. His lawyer argued, “All these guys did is simply push a sequence of buttons that they were legally entitled to push.” The case was dismissed.
GYlm5 TIL one of the original members of Fleetwood Mac went out to the store while on tour in California in 1971. He never returned and, after the band, record producers, and the police searched for him for several days, it was discovered that he had joined a cult called The Children of God.
d8o99 TIL Chewbacca (played by Peter Mayhew) had dialogue in the original Star Wars films, that was then dubbed over for theatrical release
dD4r9 TIL about TK, a boy who experienced total brain death at age 4 but was kept alive for another 20 years. His body grew as he aged but he never regained awareness. His autopsy showed nothing recognizable as brain.
kJ0Vd TIL the Normandy beach names of Utah & Omaha were selected at random, when a general asked two NCOs where they were from. The British & Canadian names were abbreviations for certain fish: goldfish, swordfish & jellyfish. Jelly was changed to Juno in honour of the wife of one of the officers