› added 8 years ago

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TIL James Bond villain Yaphet Kotto has expressed that the spy should not be played by a black man, saying “Political correctness be damned, we have to stay with what is literally correct. These roles are not written for black men" and “We have pens to create roles that no one else has established.”

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via reddit.com

OljY TIL that the only recorded instance of a cavalry capturing an enemy’s ships occurred in the unusually cold winter of 1795, when most of the waterways in Northern Europe froze over and the French cavalry were able to charge out onto a frozen port to capture the Dutch fleet stranded there
0A0p TIL: Margaret Anne Cargill was a philanthropist born into one of the wealthiest families in the world. She gave away more than $200M during her life, always anonymously, and provided that after her death all her wealth go to charity. In 2011 her assets were liquidated, resulting in a $6B donation.
v1G9D TIL that a marine scientist accidentally invented a way to make corrals grow 25-40 times faster, making large scale reef restoration a possibility
B4VD TIL that in 1913 the first practical thermal solar ‘power plant’ was built in Egypt, it generated power using polished steel to focus the sunlight. Unfortunatly WW1 broke out and the power plant was abandoned due to conflict in the area and oil became a much more attractive energy source.
D1Ykv TIL that American actor Vincent D'Onofrio holds the record for the most weight gained by an actor in a movie, having gained 70 lb (32 kg) for a total weight of 280 lb (130 kg) for his portrayal of Pvt. Leonard Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987)