› added 9 years ago

103

TIL that Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key were originally competing for the one black cast member slot on MADtv, but were both chosen due to their chemistry.

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7r7N7 TIL in 1817 an English man named Abraham Thornton successfully avoided a murder charge by demanding "trial by battle." It turned out that the practice was still technically allowed under the law despite having not been used for hundreds of years. Parliament finally abolished it one year later.
yVv8J TIL NFL coach John McKay's quote saying he was "In Favor" of his teams execution was likely never said by him.
p8ZWG TIL when Beethoven first performed his Ninth Symphony, as he couldn’t hear the rapturous applause it received due to his deafness, one of his singers approached him and turned him around so that he could see the standing ovation he was receiving.
x6ALo TIL Yahoo! isn't an exclamation of joy
PYWNZ TIL that Leonard Adleman said "Well, it's going to be the least important paper I've ever been on" when accepting to be a part of development of the RSA algorithm.