› added 1 year ago

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TIL in 1970 author Jilly Cooper lost the only manuscript for her erotic novel 'Riders' on a London bus. It was never found. Devasted, she took another 14 years to begin writing it again. It went on to became an international bestseller and kicked of the "bonkbustrr" genre.

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P11XL TIL there was an epidemic of bubonic plague in San Francisco in the early 20th century, but denial by city and state government, and racism, caused people to focus on Chinatown residents
gMVx8 TIL That the multi-colored lines associated with non-working TVs are known as a test card. I also learned that the test card for PAL (European, Brazilian, etc.) TVs is a different pattern, featuring multi-colored and many black-and-white lines in a circle.
XEbW6 TIL John Denver's death was caused by his inability to switch fuel tanks during flight. The selector valve handle should have been located between the pilot's legs, but the builder put it behind the pilot's left shoulder. The fuel gauge was behind the pilot, not visible by him.
rRyYe TIL in reference to Donald Duck’s nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Disney's archivist Dave Smith, in "Disney A to Z", said, "Note that the brightest hue of the three is red (Huey), the color of water, dew, is blue (Dewey), and that leaves Louie, and leaves are green."
R7EA9 TIL in WWII, the Japanese ambassador to Nazi Germany became one of the Western Allies greatest and highest-level sources in Berlin, offering up information on the invasion of the Soviet Union, German defenses at the Atlantic Wall, and more...without ever knowing his cables had been decrypted