› added 7 months ago

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TIL Billy Idol got his stage name from a chemistry teacher who described him as "idle" on a school report card. He originally wanted to be called "Billy Idle" but thought it would sound too similar to Monty Python's Eric Idle.

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5dBQ TIL That Sgt. Baker in WWII earned the Medal of Honor from a series of actions that ended with him requesting being left, propped against a tree with only a pistol and eight rounds. His body was found in the spot later, pistol empty, and eight dead Japanese lying before him.
PYYGL Short answer: 60 miles wide, give or take
Omg1 TIL that about 1% of the population is born with a tiny hole above their ear, a sinus thought to be an voluntionary remnant from fish gills.
LPNV TIL: In the late 1700s, a French soldier named Tarrare was subject to medical experiments to test his eating capacity. He ate a meal for 15 people in one sitting, live cats, snakes, lizards and puppies, and swallowed an eel whole without chewing. He was ejected from the hospital after eating a baby.
v1O7j TIL that the city of Toronto once said that a staircase for seniors in a park would cost $65,000-$150,000 to build. In response, a man built it for $550, then the city tore it down.