› added 5 years ago

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TIL that when David Miscavige heard that Tom Cruise had a fantasy of running with Nicole Kidman through a meadow full of wildflowers he ordered Sea Org members to plant an area of the desert. It failed to meet expectations and he held the entire base responsible for ruining the romantic idyll

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yVyoV TIL Toronto Zoo asked visitors to stop showing cellphone videos to the animals
rRJ14 TIL Carbon-dated around the early 15th century, the Voynich manuscript is written in an untranslatable language. Studied by many professional and amateur cryptographers, the manuscript has never been demonstrably deciphered and claims that it has been decoded have never been independently verified.
XEvMP TIL spectacled bears are the only bears native to South America. Also called Andean bears, they are one of four extant bear species that are habitually arboreal. Their diet is mainly herbivorous with 5-7% composed of meat. This bear species was the inspiration for the documentary Paddington Bear.
4X8no TIL that in Oklahoma in the 1920s, ranchers, lawyers and public officials conspired together to murder 60+ Osage Indians in order to secure the rights to their oil-rich land. Only two men were ever convicted. Both were paroled and one pardoned by the governor of Oklahoma.
R7MWl TIL that when The Simpsons portrayed Mr Burns as a Casino owner slowly losing his mind, they did not just include random "crazy" behaviours. They were all based off a real person, business magnate Howard Hughes.