› added 5 years ago

51

TIL - That the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series of books came about after the creator ran out of bedtime stories to tell his daughters, so he asked them what they thought the protagonist should do next. He would then continue the story based on their choices.

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awXv0 TIL the radiation levels in the US Capital Building are 55 times higher than the permissible levels of radiation exposure allowed by the EPA at the outer-most perimeters of nuclear power plants. Essentially, if the Capitol building were a nuclear facility, it would fail a safety examination.
oBVpW TIL that in WWI a carrier pigeon was shot, blinded, and had her leg blown off but was still able to deliver her message - saving the lives of 194 soldiers
jNpVn TIL a California man got 'NULL' as a personalized license plate hoping that 'NULL' would confuse the computer system. Instead, when cops left the plate number info empty on a ticket or citation, the fine went to him. He got over $12k fines sent to him his first year.
e0oxE TIL apples, peaches, and raspberries are all members of the rose family.
wLGM7 TIL that actor David Herman (Michael Bolton from the movie "Office Space") got himself fired from MADtv by screaming all his lines during read-through. Apparently, he wanted to leave the show to do other projects, but Fox would not let him out of his contract.