› added 6 years ago

186

TIL Humpty Dumpty wasn't an egg, but a large piece of artillery mounted on a castle wall, that got damaged in the English Civil War (allegedly).

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jEoa TIL that Americans who listened to the first Kennedy-Nixon debate on the radio felt that Nixon had won while those who watched it on television were sure that Kennedy had won. This was because, where Nixon had eloquence and debate skills, Kennedy had charm and showmanship.
Wk1VX TIL that with our current fastest space vehicle it would take 81,000 years to reach the nearest star system. We have quite a ways to go before interstellar colonization outside of our solar system is possible.
d87p9 TIL that in 1972, Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack shot a feature-length documentary on Aretha Franklin but forgot to use clapperboards, which made it impossible to sync audio and video and left all of the footage unusable. The film was finally salvaged and released 46 years later.
8a5VK TIL there are more Americans living in Vancouver, BC than there are in Vancouver, WA
GY9X1 TIL After an MIT student discovered a security flaw in Bostons subway fare collection system. Instead of fixing the problem the city sued the student and newspapers who reported it, then tried to have a Judge hold the student in contempt of court if he publicly spoke about the security flaw.