› added 3 years ago

78

TIL: In 1962, a 10 year old found a radioactive capsule and took it home in his pocket and left it in a kitchen cabinet. He died 38 days later, his pregnant mom died 3 months after that, then his 2 year old sister a month later. The father survived, and only then did authorities found out why.

rNR4w TIL there's a species of invasive crayfish that was discovered in the 90's, is entirely made of clones, and an unknown origin
0wgPj TIL that in 1944, the British hatched a plan to assassinate Hitler – Operation Foxley. Many, including Churchill approved of the plan. It never went through though because Hitler was an awful military strategist, and there was fear that whoever replaced him would be more adept at winning the war.
xVon7 TIL Seth Green almost ended up playing Jay (of Jay and Silent Bob) in Mallrats. The studio didn't want Jason Mews in the role and he was forced to audition for it. While Kevin Smith successfully fought off studio execs, Mews had to audition for the role alongside both Seth Green and Breckin Meyer.
69LdZ TIL the version of "Earth Angel" by The Penguins that became an unexpected hit had only been recorded by the band as a literal garage demo; drums on the track were muffled with pillows so as to not overwhelm the vocals. A neighbour's pet dog stopped many takes by barking.
b0XQ TIL that Lucille Ball claimed she picked up radio signals on her dental work and reported it to authorities resulting in the bust of a Japanese spy signal in LA in 1942.