› added 1 year ago

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TIL of the Love Canal Chemical Disaster where they built a school on a chemical dump site and eventually 950 residents were evacuated in Niagara Falls, New York

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KGNw TIL that despite basing himself in Australia for most of his life, Russell Crowe was denied Australian citizenship twice, in 2006 and 2013 because he had spent too much time in other countries.
gMn7A TIL The original word for 'bear' has been lost. People in middle ages were superstitious and thought saying the animal's name would summon it. They called it 'bear' which means 'the brown one' to avoid saying its actual name.
Ne61 TIL That as a child Ringo Starr had such poor health he was committed to a sanatorium for two years. When he got out at age 13, he was so far behind in school that he never went back.
We5N TIL that Superman was originally incapable of flying in the 1940s; hence the phrase “Able to LEAP tall buildings in a single bound.” The animators of Superman’s first cartoon thought it looked silly, so they requested, and were granted, permission to give him the ability of flight.
kBw4 TIL that in 1941 the English tried to make “rat bombs” out of actual rat carcasses to use against the Germans.