› added 6 years ago

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TIL a boat is considered a ship if it weighs 500 tonnes or more. A more general distinction is that ships can carry boats but boats cannot carry ships.

BrbWy Til that despite being advised to join the NBA after one year in college, Tim Duncan decided to stay in school for 3 more years because he had promised his mother, on her deathbed, that he would get his college degree. The move paid off, as he got drafted by the Spurs & won 5 championships with them
PY9pV TIL that in 1987 Steve Rothstein took advantage of the AAirpass (a promotion by American Airlines that let people pay a one time $250,000 and have a lifetime of unlimited flights) and quit his job so he could fly continuously. This ended up costing the airline more than 21 million.
v17gx TIL Margaret Clitherow (died 1586) was executed for the crime of harboring Catholic priests, at a time when it was a capital offence by the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584. Although still pregnant with her fourth child, she was crushed to death by her own door.
8akAX TIL the Mariah Carey song "Hero" was written for the Dustin Hoffman/Geena Davis dramedy of the same name but the CEO of the record label convinced her to not give the movie the song, saying it was "too good" for the movie.
JYB0l TIL that the word "ninja" is actually pronounced "shinobi" in the native kun'yomi kanji reading. It is a shortened form of "shinobi-no-mono," which translates closely to "stealthy person." "Ninja" is an on'yomi, a pronunciation of the names of the two Japanese letters that make up the term.