› added 10 years ago

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TIL Saturday Night Live was created because in 1974 Johnny Carson petitioned NBC for more time off.

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QJ06e TIL: A member of Al Capone's gang promised federal agent Eliot Ness that $2000 (around $33,250 in today's money) would be on his desk every Monday if he turned a blind eye to their bootlegging. Ness refused the bribe and in later years struggled with money; he died almost broke at the age of 54.
8akZZ TIL that old physics textbooks are wrong about the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse. It wasn't due to resonance, but aeroelastic flutter
JYyE4 TIL in The Italian Job (2003) the studio had to build custom electric Mini Coopers for the scenes in the LA subway because combustion engines would be too dangerous in the enclosed spaces.
nWvDP TIL that as revenge for Oscar Wilde being in a relationship with his son, The Marquess Of Queensbury planned to present Wilde with a bouquet of rotten vegetables at the opening night of The Importance Of Being Earnest, Wilde’s hit play. But Wilde was tipped off and stopped Queensbury getting inside.
QNML6 TIL that in 1992, on a background of high inflation and poor productivity, the British Pound collapsed, costing the UK Government 3.4B Pounds and forcing withdrawal from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.