› added 12 years ago

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TIL there was a woman named Edith Macefeild who would not sell her house to make way for a commercial development project in Seattle. When she died, she willed the house to the leader of the construction project “in gratitude for the friendship he had shown her during the construction.”

8aVv4 TIL Beavis and Butthead was blamed for the death of a 2-year-old, after her 5-year-old brother set fire to their mobile home. The mother said he had watched one of the fire-related segments before starting the fire, but their neighbours said they didn't have cable TV so couldn't have seen the show.
e0BAL TIL that the Great Pyramids of Giza were built smooth and shiny. There was an outer layer of white limestone that covered the pyramids and reflected the Egyptian sun, but it was removed over time and only the inner layers remain.
GOa5 TIL of Frank Nelson Cole. At a 1903 meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Cole—while remaining completely silent—showed on a chalkboard an important new proof by, among other things, calculating 193,707,721 × 761,838,257,287 by hand. He sat down after an hour to a standing ovation.
Oo0Ke TIL of Dave the Slave, a 19th century potter who would inscribe his wares with original poetry. It is believed that he made over 40,000 pieces in his lifetime
oBny7 TIL that in the original Little Mermaid novel, the mermaid’s legs constantly feel as if she is walking on sharp knives. The prince likes to watch her dance, which she does for him, despite excruciating pain. Then he marries someone else and the mermaid kills herself.