› added 11 years ago

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TIL that in 1997, Mattel released ‘Share-A-Smile Becky’ Barbie doll, who was disabled and came with a wheelchair; however, the doll created controversy when it was pointed out that the Barbie-Dream-House was not wheelchair accessible and could not accommodate Becky’s needs.

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n1v9 TIL That the French philosopher and mathematician Descartes was hired as a tutor by the Queen of Sweden, who insisted on philosophy lessons at 5 in the morning. Within a year of walking through the Swedish cold every morning, Descartes caught pneumonia and died.
6JNm TIL all of the guest callers on Frasier were played by celebrities
BgW9e TIL The Norwegian heavy-water saboteurs in 1943 put the whole operation on ice for 2 or 3 minutes to help the man guarding the facility find his misplaced glasses. After they found his glasses, they lit the fuses and the sabotage was a success. All saboteurs got out alive without any shots fired.
16k6r TIL that James Michael Tyler initially got the part of Gunther in Friends because he knew how to work a coffee machine and would look authentic when working in the background.
y9GV TIL a Michigan doctor was sentenced to 45 years in prison for giving chemotherapy to patients who didn’t actually have cancer.