› added 10 years ago

70

TIL that Steven Spielberg purposely did not allow Matt Damon to attend the pre-production Boot Canp for actors in Saving Private Ryan so the remaining cast would build up genuine resentment for his character.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

bAEQ TIL Charles Byrne (aka “The Irish Giant”) in 1783 feared grave robbers would steal & dissect his body after his death, he requested that his coffin be weighed down & buried at the bottom of the sea. Before burial, his corpse was stolen, dissected, & his skeleton still on display to this day.
Z8d0Q TIL Christopher Nolan waited to make Dunkirk until he had earned the trust of a major studio to let him make it as a pure British film, but with an American budget. He said, "Hollywood studios are interested in films about Americans, and there were no Americans involved."
ne5KW TIL that some animals and insects, like squirrels and bumblebees, use a “mating plug” to prevent other males from inseminating females they have already mated with.
l7pKa TIL that the Russian Soyuz rocket, which has been in service since 1963 and has a success rate of 98%, begins its ignition process by firing wooden sticks inside the combustion chamber. While not quite as simple, it's essentially huge wooden matches and it's extremely reliable.
7EkM TIL the French Olympian Violette Morris was not only a lesbian, a heavy smoker, and part of the Gestapo, but also surgically removed her breasts so she could race cars more effectively.