› added 11 years ago

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TIL Nixon’s strategy during Vietnam was called the Madman Theory and it focused on making the enemy think Nixon was insane and if provoked would act irrational.

BrYPr TIL that the 1989 rap album: As Nasty As They Wanna Be, resulted in a court case where the federal government wanted to censor the music on the album due to its obscenity, had they won, the precedent set would have made Hip-Hop artists lose the right to their freedom of speech.
gMEZb TIL of Ranald MacDonald, a Chinook/Scotsman from Oregon Country, who went to Japan in 1848 despite its strict isolationist policy. Risking death, he pretended to be shipwrecked & got captured. While imprisoned, the gov't sent 14 samurai to be his pupils, as he became Japan's first English teacher.
emVg TIL that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt couple sold the rights for the first images of their twins to People and Hello! magazines for $14 million—making them the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The money went to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.
oBlmR TIL that Elenor Roosevelt contributed to serving the worst meals in White House history during FDR’s presidency. Partly to symbolize to the American population during the Great Depression that nutritious food can be made on the cheap. Also to seek revenge on FDR for his affair w/ Lucy Mercer.
JYNZV TIL there is a network of illegal, gang-run hot dog trolleys in London. Rival hot dog gangs have fought turf wars and often use spotters to evade enforcers.