› added 13 years ago

144

TIL in Ireland, they leave Guinness out for Santa on Christmas Eve

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gB6W TIL Fred Waldo “The Great Impostor” pretended to be a surgeon in a Navy ship during the Korean War. When 16 severely wounded soldiers showed up, he speed-read the various surgeries he needed to perform, including major chest surgery. All soldiers survived.
BrJyK TIL that when former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, the song "Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead" from the Wizard Of Oz shot to number 2 on the UK singles chart-and BBC radio refused to play it.
e0aJ6 TIL of Eddie Gaedel, a dwarf and shortest player to appear in a MLB game at hight 3'7". Gaedel had one plate appearance, where he was walked in 4 straight balls and was replaced by a pinch runner. He wore the bat boy's uniform and was paid $100 for his appearance which he parlayed into $17K via TV
rNyEe TIL about Mount Kumgang, a North Korean resort that was opened in 1998 for Southern vacationers during a time of increased North-South cooperation. However, South Korea suspended tours in 2008 when a SK woman was shot dead after wandering into an off limits area. It was later demolished in 2022.
VB1yZ TIL about the Frankish Tower on the Acropolis of Athens, built in Medieval Greece and demolished by Heinrich Schliemann, the German national who later found (and badly damaged) the Site of Troy, who wanted any post-Classical buildings "cleaned-up" from the Acropolis