› added 12 years ago

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TIL that in the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, three men were caught alive on the roof of a hotel that was ablaze. Rather than see the men fall and be burned alive, a nearby military officer ordered his men to shoot them.

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RaJ6 TIL Scuba divers use Magna Doodles to pass notes underwater
4Xva5 TIL "The Royal Order of Whale Bangers" was a WWII medal presented by patrol squadron (VP-53) to any of its bombardiers who sank a whale instead of a U-Boat.
6Ek4Z Today I learned that a Victorian man in 1875 died after accidentally swallowing a mouse. "The mouse began to tear and bite inside the man's throat and chest, and the result was that the unfortunate fellow died after a little time in horrible agony."
xgpD TIL that the idiom “You kids get off my lawn” was ascribed to elderly first-generation homeowners who prided their lawns as a symbol of new-found affluence post WWII
jNBQN TIL since the studio didn’t have enough budget to shoot Riddick (2013). Vin Diesel had to mortgage his house, obtain loans and spend most of his own money on the production