› added 8 years ago

78

TIL that after Drew Barrymore posed nude in Playboy at age 19, her godfather, Steven Spielberg, sent her a quilt for her 20th birthday with a note that said “cover yourself up”. Enclosed were also the Playboy pictures, altered by his art department to make her appear fully clothed.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

x50D TIL many areas are using a beet juice and salt mixture on their roads to keep them from freezing over. The beet juice prevents roads from icing over in temperatures up to -25°C, making it more effective than using a salt brine. A beet juice mixture is also less toxic to the environment.
R7vl7 TIL that American long-distance open-water swimmer Lynne Cox is known for being the first person to swim the 2.5 miles between the United States and the Soviet Union, via the Bering Strait. She was jointly congratulated by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan.
nlvb TIL that the film “Being John Malkovich” was difficult to sell to production companies because the writers chose John Malkovich as the titular character. One studio exec asked “Why the fuck can’t it be Being Tom Cruise?”
8a9aV TIL that actress Olivia de Havilland, who got her first Oscar nomination in 1939 for her role in Gone With the Wind (at age 23), is still alive. She's 103.
e0BRg TIL of Robert S. Abbott, who founded 'The Chicago Defender' in 1905 for just $7. With the top circulation of any Black-owned newspaper in the states it made him a multi-millionaire and contributed to The Great Migration. Thanking his ex-landlady for encouraging him, he gave her an 8 room house.