› added 10 years ago

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TIL the first man to swim the length of Great Britain grew a beard to stop jellyfish stinging his face

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BP4d TIL in December 1939, a ten year old Martin Luther King Jr. was dressed as a slave and sang in a boy’s choir at the premiere of the film “Gone With the Wind.” Two black actresses in the film were prevented from attending the premiere due to segregation laws.
wLEA1 TIL that when dashboard lights were first used in cars they were called "idiot lights" because drivers were frustrated by the warning lights used in place of gauges, making it more difficult to detect issues early since they only activated after one occurred.
Y7v07 TIL Cat Stevens wrote The First Cut Is The Deepest
5Y8Xn TIL in the Philippines, the legal term for car-theft is "carnapping." This is because when cars used to be very rare in the country and were prized status-items, thieves would steal and hold them for ransom like in a kidnapping. Now the term is used for both car-theft and carjacking cases.
DQvGD TIL David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, was born Vernon Wayne Howell. He changed his name to "David Koresh" in 1990, reflecting his belief in the biblical lineage of King David. "Koresh" is the Hebrew name for Cyrus, the Persian king who freed Jews from Babylonian captivity.