› added 12 years ago

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TIL that while filming “Schindler’s List,” Steven Spielberg would put Robin Williams on speaker phone to cheer up the cast and crew.

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LnDZ TIL in 1996 the IRA planted a bomb in Manchester City centre and told the authorities they had an hour to evacuate the area. The police successfully managed to evacuate 75,000 people in what has been called the most ‘extraordinary policing operations’ in UK history. There wasn’t a single fatality.
gR5b TIL the Italian words widely used in New Jersey differ greatly from mainstream Italian today not because of bad “copying” but because the words came from people speaking an Italian dialect that subsequently died out in Italy
Egxko TIL Rip was a stray dog adopted by an Air Raid Patrol in WW2. Although not trained for rescue work, he sniffed out over 100 victims trapped beneath buildings. He was awarded the Dickin medal for his work, which has been held partially responsible for prompting the training of search and rescue dogs.
4P7w TIL In 1978, a dangerous cult called Synanon tried to murder an opponent by placing an de-rattled rattlesnake in his mailbox. The snake did bite Attorney Paul Morantz, but he survived and went on to prosecute Synanon, as well as Church of Scientology, Hare Krishnas, and more.
Z88MY TIL of Terry Grosz, a fish and game warden that caught illegal fishers by waiting in the Eel river in a wetsuit and reeled himself in when the fisherman cast out their lines. After writing citations and confiscating their fishing rods, he went back into the river and swam away.