› added 4 years ago

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TIL that the largest island of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu was originally named "La Austrialia [sic] del Espíritu Santo" - after both the monarchy of Austria (ancestors of the Spanish monarchs) and the Great Southern Continent, Terra Australis (which Australia was later named for)

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Z8gov TIL that Disney traded ABC sportscaster Al Michaels from ESPN to NBC in exchange for the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, so the latter could appear in the game Epic Mickey. In an interview, Michaels commented "I'm going to be a trivia answer someday."
4bJ6 TIL Ian Fleming, writer of James Bond, last words were “I am sorry to trouble you chaps. I don’t know how you get along so fast with the traffic on the roads these days.” uttered to the Ambulance drivers
BrEgW TIL that Martin Luther King Jr. Day resulted from a campaign by Stevie Wonder and Gil Scott Heron, the musician behind The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
NnQE TIL that the Germans flooded large portions of Holland in 1945 as they were being defeated by the allies. Video in comments.
W5eY TIL Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world without a river.