› added 3 years ago

76

TIL That while he was being given Military Honors for fighting 2 wars in France, the first black fighter pilot - an American - wasn't allowed to fly in the U.S. Air Force.

8LOX TIL, Brian Banks did 5 yrs in jail after a high school girl falsely accused him of rape. She also sued the school district & won $1.5m. Yrs later she admitted to him that she lied. He taped the conversation, his conviction was overturned & the school district sued her back for $2.6m
OKe4 TIL that research indicates black americans really do tip waiters less than whites americans, but likely as part of a cycle: waiters resist serving African Americans, or they provide poorer service, which discourages blacks from patronizing table-service restaurants.
wLEdE TIL some marathon runners elect to have their toenails permanently removed. Their level of running causes friction on the toes and results in toenails routinely becoming damaged and detached. To circumvent chronic nail wounds, some people just get rid of them entirely.
vPEej TIL that the commonly quoted figure of 150 deaths from falling coconuts worldwide annually is a myth based on extrapolation from 2 anecdotal reports from Alotau, Papua New Guinea over more than 4 years. Only 22 reported cases of death by falling coconut have happened since 1777.
AD7nn TIL that Nike had conditions before giving rookie Michael Jordan a record contract: Either be rookie of the year, or average 20 ppg, or be an all star, or sell $4 mill worth shoes in a year. Jordan was rookie of the year, scored 28.2 ppg, named all star, and Nike sold $100 mill of shoes in 1984-85.