› added 2 years ago

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TIL that the prestige in holding the Blue Riband for the highest average speed in crossing the Atlantic, was such that the British government gave the shipping firm Cunard a £2.5 million loan to help take the title back from Germany, which Cunard did.

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YpJKB TIL Lizzy Murphy known as "The Queen of Baseball",was the first woman to play professional baseball, competing with male athletes in 1922. She played baseball for 17 yrs as a first baseman; she also played on several all-star teams and was the first person of either sex to play on both AL & NL teams
1a5B7 Today I learned the aircraft carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo of the Argentine navy was originally a British Colossus class Aircraft carrier form WWII. She was sold to the Netherlands and then to Argentine Navy ultimately partcipating in the Falklands war against her original builders, the British.
LkOXv TIL when Spielberg showed John Williams the a cut of ‘Schindler’s List,’ the composer became so moved that he could barely speak and had to step out for a few minutes. When he returned, he told Spielberg the film deserved a better composer to which Spielberg replied, “I know, but they’re all dead.”
kOBZ7 TIL of Dean Karnazes; Ultra-Marathon runner who ran 350 miles (560 km) in 80 hours and 44 minutes without sleep in 2005
x6QGb TIL that 'Snowflake' Toones was in over 200 movies, usually without being listed in the credits. He also ran a shoeshine stand at the Republic movie studios.