› added 8 years ago

246

TIL that Democratic Senator Harry Reid of Nevada once choked out a man who offered him $12,000 to illegally approve his new casino games, while yelling “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!”

kOYW1 TIL while the CIA is by and large the most well know US spy agency, there exist a second equally large American espionage agency called the DIA. The DIA produces approximately one-fourth of all intelligence content that goes into the President's Daily Brief.
6Ega8 TIL originally built as only a hunting lodge for King Francois I, Chateau de Chambord contains 440 rooms and 365 fireplaces. It is so large that the Loire was rumored to be diverted to make room.
R7n0j Humpback whales are far better known for their bellowing "songs" that can travel up to six miles, but the animals also have quiet voices. Biologists have observed humpback calves “whispering” to their mothers in tones that can be heard only within 330 feet—a strategy to prevent predators, such as orcas, from eavesdropping. Calves also want to avoid adult male humpbacks, which may try to separate the calf from its mother to mate. This shortened time with its mom could ultimately weaken the calf, which needs to drink 50 gallons of milk a day to fuel up for its long migration.
p8Ro4 TIL one of the only reasons the world got Mark Hamill's masterful performance as Luke Skywalker is because Robert Englund (of Freddy Krueger fame) happened to see auditions for A New Hope taking place and suggested to Hamill that he should audition, believing him to be perfect for the role
L0bv TIL that student loan debt is the largest form of consumer debt outside mortgages, and it now stands at 1.1 Trillion