› added 8 years ago

287

TIL trains are terrible at going uphill. The steepest incline in England is 1.5° and trains need additional engines pushing in the back to help climb it.

KODrR TIL the highest natural point in Rhode Island, Jerimoth Hill, was once considered one of the more difficult state highpoints to scale despite being a gentle hill only 812 feet above sea level, as the trail up the hill passed through the private property of an old man who would threaten trespassers.
ZpYnD TIL that the 1927 film "Napoléon" which spans 5 1/2 hours, was originally envisioned by its director Abel Gance to be first of six films about Napoleon's career. After the difficulties encountered in making the first film, he realised that the costs involved would make the full project impossible.
5Yao9 TIL that India requires voting booths within 2 km of every registered voter. This means some poll workers trek for days through mountains and jungles to reach small, remote villages, sometimes for only a single registered voter.
rajd TIL Dr. John Osborne, the first democratic governor of Wyoming, wore shoes he made of human skin to his inauguration. He removed the skin from the body of an executed train robber. He also made a doctor’s bag and coin purse. He gave the top of the skull to his 15 year old assistant as a souvenir.
mxyJx TIL that the traditional wedding march 'Here Comes the Bride' comes from an opera where a princess agrees to marry a knight whose name she does not know. After she breaks her promise to never ask him who he is, he abandons her and she falls down dead out of grief.