› added 9 years ago

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TIL during WWI a British recruitment tool called the “Pals Battalion” allowed people from the same town to enter the military together. Though it increased enlistment rolls, it also devastated whole regions of the UK whenever a battalion experienced heavy casualties. By WWII the idea was abandoned.

yVnWV TIL Robert Duvall turned down the role of Woodrow Call in Lonesome Dove to play Gus McCrae, calling it one of the best roles he’d ever seen. His performance was so memorable that fans sometimes weep when visiting Gus’s mannequin, taken from his coffin scene, now displayed at Texas State University.
8agvV TIL that Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California was named after a man who shot and killed his wife in an alcohol-fueled rage. He was convicted of attempted murder and spent two years in San Quentin.
b6e64 TIL: Götz von Berlichingen was a German mercenary/"Robin Hood". He lost his right arm in 1504 and had a blacksmith make an iron hand with movable fingers to hold a sword could hold a pen. In 1799, Goethe wrote a biography and included the first use of "kiss my a**". (a plaque commemorates this).
ZpMMY TIL Willard Wigan, MBE sculpts microscopic artwork that fits in the eye of a needle. As he was finishing his Alice in Wonderland pieces, he accidentally inhaled Alice, losing weeks of delicate work. Fortunately, he likes the second Alice better.
Wprd TIL a princess of Thailand married an American man she met in MIT. She relinquished her royal titles to do so, and they had 3 children together.