› added 6 years ago

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TIL that in 1924, H. P. Lovecraft was hired to ghostwrite a story for Harry Houdini about Houdini's supposedly true escape from an Egyptian cult. Lovecraft lost the only copy on the way to his own wedding, and spent much of his honeymoon rewriting it with his wife's help.

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rRKde TIL that Disney is an anglicized version of the French name “D’Isigny”, meaning “From Isigny”. Descendants from the same ancestors as Walt formed a cheese company in France. They sometimes collaborate and make Mickey-themed cheese packages.
VBKD4 TIL the US Secret Service was founded on April 14 1865 and signed in to law by Abraham Lincoln only hours before he was assassinated.
VM4x8 TIL the Russian battleship Sissoi Veliky was built with design and construction problems, yet commissioned anyway. Flooding from an artillery barrage and torpedo hit sank her in the only battle she participated in, causing the deaths of 47 sailors.
VMeKp TIL that during WW2, Japan launched Project Fugo, which sent hot air balloons to the U.S rigged with explosives. At the time, they were the longest ranged attacks in the history of warfare. However, they were largely ineffective due to weather, and caused only 6 deaths.
loeMK TIL that both men and women laugh more at men than at women