› added 12 years ago

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TIL A college student wrote against seat belt laws, saying they are “intrusions on individual liberties” and that he won’t wear one. He died in a car crash, and his 2 passengers survived because they were wearing seat belts.

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via reddit.com

QNEpa TIL Christopher Walken’s SNL character, “The Continental” is a parody of a real program of the same name starring Italian actor Renzo Cesana, and aired on CBS in 1952
gM1K4 TIL that the last American WWI veteran lied about his age to serve in the military at 16. He told one recruiter he was 18 but was told to go home "before my mother noticed I was gone." Instead of being discouraged, he doubled down and told the next recruiter he was 21 and was signed up on the spot.
MwEa TIL that there are people who believe our birth certificates are actually bonds for money deposited in our names at birth, and these bonds are traded like stocks on the NYSE.
x68Zg TIL that the letter “E” was used for grading up until the 1930s because US schools feared students would misinterpret “E” for meaning excellent.
N719E TIL that when 16th century Russian church services grew enormously long, rather than eliminate any part of the ceremony, the church opted to save time by performing up to six parts of the service simultaneously. This led to absurd situations where numerous cantors were shouting over each other.