› added 4 years ago

146

TIL that Christian Bales portrayal of Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho' was partially based on Tom Cruise. Bale was unsure of how he should portray the character until he noticed and was influenced by Cruises "intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes" persona during an interview.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

KBJw TIL cigarette butts are the most polluted items in the world, accounting for 2 billion pounds of waste per year. To combat this, entrepreneurs developed eco-friendly butts that decompose in 2-6 weeks, then sprout into trees.
9kOQ TIL that two thirds of Denmark’s income used to come from charging people to enter or leave the Baltic sea, those that refused to pay were sunk
VEoB TIL that pigs have a relatively high cognitive ability, with the ability to use mirrors and learn a considerable amount of tricks.
QJkGX TIL that diseases brought by Europeans caused the Native American population of an estimated 100 million to decline by almost 90%
rRk7e TIL in Japan ~%99 of people are cremated. After cremation, the family uses chopsticks to transfer the bones out of the ash and into an urn. This is the ONLY time is acceptable to pass anything from chopsticks to chopsticks. Doing such outside of a funeral can remind bystanders of a recent funeral.