› added 12 years ago

88

TIL, In 1242, all of Western Europe could have been destroyed had the Mongol horde’s leader, Ögedei Khan, not died of alcohol poisoning during a hunting trip; forcing the horde to return to Mongolia to choose a new Khan.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

QgWE TIL Morgan Freeman used to do hard drugs, but he’s said that he would “Never give up the ganja.”
JlxV TIL John Newton, most famous for writing “Amazing Grace,” spent the early part of his life as a sailor, then captain, on several slaving ships before converting to a life of evangelical Christianity. Late in life he became an abolitionist, expressing regret that it had taken him so long to do so.
EgWkd TIL that in 1990 Volvo nearly destroyed its reputation in the US with a staged ad campaign in which they claimed their cars could not be crushed by a Monster Truck. The Volvo had been reinforced and the other cars weakened for the stunt.
Z8K6G TIL that in 2006, the brakes failed on Joaquin Phoenix's car in Hollywood, and he flipped off the road. He was found by Werner Herzog, who stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette as gasoline leaked into the car cabin. Herzog broke the back windscreen, helped Phoenix out, and then went home.
X0PkQ TIL John Quincy Adams escaped unscathed from the first fatal train accident in recorded US history. Two died & 21 were injured, including Cornelius Vanderbilt, who broke a leg.