› added 1 year ago

51

TIL: That while pregnant in 1956, Grace Kelly was frequently photographed clutching a distinctive leather handbag which was likely a shield to prevent her from being exposed to the paparazzi. However, the pictures popularized the purse so much that it would later come to be known as the Kelly bag.

yQepe TIL that horses actually put out up to 15 horsepower, and also that humans put out a little above 1 horse power.
GA76G TIL A man named Laurence Vonderdell robbed a bank in Dorset, England, with a banana wrapped in an orange plastic bag that he pretended was a gun and escaped with £1,100 worth of £20 notes.
JYOYv TIL Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huangdi died eating mercury pills that were supposed to prolong his life. Afraid that news of his death would cause a revolt, his trusted advisors transported his body back to his palace among barrels of rotten fish, to mask the smell.
0d1xA TIL Ben Stiller developed the premise for Tropic Thunder while shooting Empire of the Sun. He wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who became "self-important" & appeared to believe they had been part of a real military unit after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles.
D16ZP TIL that John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is tall – 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), compared to the actors playing hobbits at around 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) so the filming was much easier because he had a perfect proportion to the hobbit actors