› added 8 years ago

84

TIL the possible origin of the phrase “knock on wood” comes from Germanic folklore, “wherein dryads are thought to live in trees, and can be invoked for protection.”

b9NY7 TIL Colonel Sanders (which is a the highest honorary title in the State of Kentucky) of KFC fame sold his company in 1964 for only $2 million dollars ($17 million today). He remained as brand ambassador but complained the company had cut costs and made an inferior product than the early days.
Z80Xv TIL Laboring women of the Huichol tribe in Mexico held onto a string that was tied to her husband's testicles. "With each painful contraction, she would give the string a yank so that the man could share the burden."
7raV7 TIL "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh spent millions of dollars over seven years quietly bankrolling efforts to free the West Memphis 3, three Arkansas men who supporters say were wrongly convicted of the murders of three children.
R5kD1 TIL Blade: Trinity had a troubling production where Wesley Snipes's stand-in appeared more than the actor. A poor script, Snipes's bitterness over the studio using the final Blade film as a launch pad for a Nightstalkers spin-off, and Snipes's intense method impacted the production.
L1ov TIL Michael Keaton vetoed Michelle Pfeiffer playing Vicki Vale in Tim Burton’s Batman as they had previously been in a relationship and he thought it too awkward. She would later star opposite him in Batman Returns.