› added 12 years ago

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TIL in 1968, two boys playing in a deserted and rat-infested tenement found the body of a 31yo drug addict, surrounded by religious pamphlets and empty beer bottles. Not until 19 months later was the body identified as that of child actor Bobby Driscoll, Academy Award winner and voice of Peter Pan

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Bgamb TIL that when a metaphor stops needing its imagery to be understood and becomes idiomatic ("footage", "fly off the handle", "blow off steam"), it is considered "dead".
69vxw TIL that Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, had sex with a 14-year old fan before knowing her age. After learning her age, he proceeded to have sex with her one more time before sending her back on a bus to her city of New Orleans.
0waw5 TIL a 'barrel' of crude oil is not today's standard 200L/55G barrel of commerce, but was originally the 40 gallon whiskey barrel before settling on, in 1866, the 42 gallon (159L) wine tierce established by English King Richard III in 1485, which we still use today
jNyyN TIL that Sir Alex Ferguson - one of the greatest managers in sports history and the most decorated football manager of all time - self-identifies as a socialist.
kOx9e TIL Marquette University bought the original manuscripts and multiple working drafts of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" from J.R.R. Tolkien for only 1,500 pounds (less than $5,000) in 1956. At the time, no other institution had expressed an interest in Tolkien's literary manuscripts.