› added 8 years ago

101

TIL that President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou both spoke fluent Mandarin Chinese. They communicated in the language whenever they wanted to keep their conversations private around guests and the press.

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

wo6vY TIL: That in 1974, a man performed a highwire walk between the Twin Towers of the WTC in New York. Philippe Petit, a street artist from Paris, took 6 years to plan what he called "le coup" (heist). The feat was later described as the "artistic crime of the century".
NLb TIL Japan’s population will drop 33% by 2060; lack of ‘sex drive’ in youths. [video]
bdoN TIL of Roy Benavidez. He volunteered to be dropped into a firefight against 1000 NVA to save his 12 man team, armed with only a knife. He was wounded 37 times in a 6hr battle, believed dead, and was placed in a body bag. He saved his mates, survived, and received the MoH.
XWbP TIL According to unclassified audio tapes of president Johnson, Nixon Prolonged Vietnam War for Political Gain and Johnson knew about it.
rN6Mo TIL Leonardo DiCaprio almost didn't get the role of Jack in Titanic because he didn't want to audition for it and only did so after James Cameron told him, among other things, "you're gonna read or you're not gonna get the part."