› added 9 years ago

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TIL Olympic medals used to be given for “Town Planning”

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GZaj TIL Chris Farley was hired to voice Shrek and had finished 80-90% of his recording sessions at the time of his death
Zp49B TIL about Beverley Shenstone, a Canadian engineer who actively sought employment in Germany, because he thought they were leading the field in aeronautics. He worked for Junkers and met with leading German engineers. He was later an important contributor to the design of the Spitfire.
rN4L1 TIL of George Remus, rumored to be the inspiration for The Great Gatsby - He was a pharmacist, prohibition bootlegger, lawyer, and is known for pioneering the temporary insanity defense, which later helped his acquittal following the shooting of his wife, Imogene
7roMO TIL There are at least 7 "Frozen Conflict" zones in the former soviet union, which are unrecognized states created during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992. Although over 6 million people live in these areas, these countries have no official status and are not member of the UN
GAgd4 TIL railroad gauges are approximately the same width as old Roman Chariots but that it is largely coincidence and the original gauge of 4’ 8-1/2” was established by a man from the 1820s, who used the gauge because it was common from roads in the area.