› added 8 years ago

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TIL that in 1978, Charlie Chaplin’s body was stolen and held for ransom. His widow refused to pay ransom demands of £400,000 because “Charlie would have thought it ridiculous.” The body was found 11 weeks later.

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kOg6W TIL France had the most extensive network of optical telegraphs, and the inertia from this made it one of the slowest countries to adopt electrical telegraphs.
OGB8L TIL the oldest plane still flying is a 1909 Bleriot Monoplane, made from wood tied together by fabric. The pilot sits in a wicker chair
KYMjB TIL that Lewis Stone, who played Mickey Rooney's kindly old father in the Andy Hardy films, died of a heart attack while chasing the neighborhood kids off his lawn.
D169p TIL China recorded the second highest death toll during WWII, totaling 14 million casualties
OGaPg TIL that no centipede naturally has exactly 100 legs. A quirk in their development means each centipede has an odd number of body segments, making 50 pairs of legs impossible.