› added 11 years ago

215

TIL that during the 1913 Tour de France, riders could have no outside help repairing their bicycles. The race leader at one point had his front fork break, so he trekked 10 km to a blacksmith where he repaired them himself. He was penalized 3 minutes for allowing a child to work the bellows.

Read more guardian.co.uk

via reddit.com

EgPbV TIL where the "Did a dingo eat your baby?" joke from The Rugrats Movie came from. Based on a real case, the Evil Angels film has a scene where the murder-accused mother says, "The dingo took my baby!" It gets misquoted in a bunch of shows as "a dingo ate my baby."
Lk4am TIL A theater's air composition varies depending on what kind of scene is playing. A study showed that the strongest collective chemical response was for suspense and comedy sequences. Understanding the change in the air's chemistry in theaters can help us develop cancer detection techniques.
49ZX TIL that Molotov Cocktails were named by the Finns after Vyacheslav Molotov, a Soviet politician, whom claimed over the radio that the Soviets were dropping food to the Finns, not bombs. Satirically, the Finns called Soviet bombs “Moltov bread baskets” and started making “Molotov cocktails”
yweV TIL Harold Wilson wished for actor Harry H. Corbett to receive an OBE. However, his middle initial was lost in the process and the award instead went to Sooty puppeteer Harry Corbett. Harry H. Corbett had previously added the initial to avoid confusion with the puppeteer.
gxbb TIL that the octopus is so intelligent, the UK considers them honorary vertebrates for the purposes of animal cruelty laws