› added 2 years ago

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TIL of the Dicker-rod, a device intended to replace the first down chains commonly used to measure 10-yard distances during games of gridiron football.

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XEJn8 TIL: The airport set in the movie "The Terminal" was built from scratch in a warehouse. It's all fake, as no airport would let them have use of their airports for the amount of time it took for film production. It was so well done that all of the companies shown in the movie endorsed it.
4Xgog TIL that a UK man found a way to earn money off telemarketers who were constantly calling him. In 2011 he set up his own personal 0871 line - so to call him now costs money to the caller. Every time a bank, gas or electricity supplier asked him for his details, he submits it as his contact number.
6XWX TIL, after winning one of the most famous dogfights of WWII, a Japanese fighter pilot managed to fly over 4 hours back to base despite being blind and paralyzed down the entire left side of his body from enemy fire; he endured and survived emergency surgery without anesthesia immediately afterward.
j6wdn TIL that Dean Martin, also known as "the King of Cool," bootlegged liquor, worked in a steel mill, served as a croupier in a speakeasy, and was a blackjack dealer, all before the age of 15. At 15, he turned to boxing. Out of his 12 matches, Martin said that he "won all but 11."
kJp45 TIL In March 12, 1961, a character named Dennis the Menace debuted in the British comic “The Beano", a few hours later, an unrelated newspaper comic was released in the USA, with the character also being called Dennis the Menace.