› added 1 year ago

505

TIL: Arctic means "Bear", and Antarctic "No bear", because the Big Dipper, "the greater she-bear", is always visible in the northern pole sky. The fact that there are Polar bears in the Arctic but not in the Antarctic continent is purely a coincidence.

OxKe TIL that Ernst Kaltbrunner, a Nazi War Criminal living under a false name, was caught because his mistress saw him by chance and called out his name and ran to hug him
pBLG TIL that many films/TV shows, including Gremlins, Desperate Housewives, The Munsters, Beethoven, Deep Impact, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, as well as music videos by The Offspring and P. Diddy, were all filmed at the same backlot street set at Universal Studios Hollywood, using the same houses.
7NN7 TIL that Billy Mulligan, suffered from multiple personality disorder in most outstanding way, with world record of 24 personalities. Some of his personalities spoke languages that Billy never learned. They were aware of each other’s presence within Billy, and agreed to live together in cooperation.
x6NPk TIL the most effective surrender leaflet in WW2 was known as the "Passierschein". It was designed to appeal to German sensibilities for official, fancy documents printed on nice paper with official seals and signatures. It promised safe passage and generous treatment to any who presented it.
VMb8k TIL that the original Trefoil ("Radioactive") symbol was replaced by a red, more grotesque version including a skull and crossbones (ISO 21482), after 3 people died when they carried and dismantled a Cobalt-60 radiation source, not recognizing the symbol.