› added 5 years ago

225

TIL that workers in Cuban cigar factories in the early 1900s employed 'lectores' to read to them while they worked. The reading materials were often literary or political, ranging from socialists newspapers to Shakespearean plays - sometimes leading to clashes with anti-communist factory owners.

Read more mashable.com

via reddit.com

dAKQ TIL that during the recording of Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast”, unexplained phenomena occurred. This all climaxed when the producer, Martin Birch, was involved in a car accident with a mini-bus transporting a group of nuns, after which he was presented with a repair bill for £666.
QJxee TIL of Myrtle Corbin, a woman born with two pairs of legs and two sets of internal and external reproductive anatomies, who gave birth to five children in her lifetime and had no major health issues, living to the age of 59
xV67k TIL that 78 years ago, FDR moved Thanksgiving one week earlier to increase holiday sales. This day became known as "Franksgiving."
epMe6 TIL that ancient Romans used ‘sponges on sticks’ to clean themselves after using public toilets. These sponges were kept in a container of water and vinegar between uses to clean and disinfect them.
D1rGJ TIL about Michele Mouton, a former French rally driver. After finishing runner-up in the 1982 WRC, she started competing in the infamous and savage Group B, which was later banned after a string of deaths. Mouton retired as a result, and she remains the last woman to compete in top-level rallying.