› added 12 years ago

70

TIL Vincent D'Onofrio, not Robert De Nero, holds the record for most weight gained for a role in Full Metal Jacket (70 lbs). It took him 9 months to shed it after.

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wRB1 TIL that children from some ethnic groups of southeast Asia (called Sea Gypsies) are capable of seeing clearly underwater and this skill wears off as they grow up. Some suggest that with practice any young person could achieve underwater vision.
yZKV TIL there was an ancient highly sought after Roman spice called ‘Silphium’ that was so valuable and desired that it was worth its weight in silver coins; however, this demand led to its over-harvesting, which is thought to have contributed to its eventual disappearance and extinction by 68AD.
1aA78 TIL that the Soviet AA-2 Atoll missile was reverse engineered from a US AIM-9 Sidewinder after it became lodged in a Chinese MiG-17 without exploding. The lead Soviet engineer at Vympel said, the missile was a "university offering a course in missile construction technology."
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