› added 6 years ago

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TIL that there is a theory that Cinderella's unique glass slipper was not a case of confusion between the French words vair (fur) and verre (glass), but actually a deliberate innuendo, since the prince had the right to "try on the fur slipper of all the maidens in the kingdom". (Droit de seigneur)

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Brp4b TIL - When researchers from the University of Washington trapped and banded crows for an experiment, they wore caveman masks to hide their their identities. They could walk freely in the area without masks, but if they donned the masks again, the crows remembered them as evil and dive-bombed them.
LQyn9 TIL Legendary Wild West gambler and gun man Doc Holliday was convinced he would be killed in a shootout with his boots on. Instead he lay dying of tuberculosis in a hospital, asked the nurse for a shot of whisky which she denied, looked down at his bootless feet, said "This is funny" and died.
Y71gZ TIL The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh, and injuring around 120 more.
kJPR7 TIL Anderson Cooper's grandmother had a twin sister who was the mistress to Edward VIII and the woman that introduced Edward to Wallis Simpson, the woman who he later abdicated for
YOWW TIL The Nazis were the first to convincingly link smoking to lung cancer and first coined the phrase passive smoking.