› added 11 years ago

75

TIL Andrew Jackson was challenged to a duel by Charles Dickinson who was considered an expert shot. Jackson allowed him to fire first hoping his aim to be spoiled by his quickness. The bullet did miss just shy of Jackson’s heart. Dickinson had to stand there waiting for Jackson to kill him.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

y9ja TIL that the distorted power chord sound of “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks was achieved when guitarist Dave Davies slashed the speaker on his amp with a razor blade. This sound went on to influence heavy metal and punk rock.
6EDRW TIL that King Charles II in 1662 ordered all female roles in plays to be played by women after a play he was watching was interrupted on account of a man cast as a woman taking too long to shave
g40b TIL that most photocopiers and scanners can detect and refuse to scan currency, as well as Adobe Photoshop
GYRrQ TIL 1-800-COLLECT was so popular in the 90s that AT&T launched a competing service, 1-800-Operator. However AT&T later discovered many people misspell Operator with 'er' instead of 'or' at the end, and that unfortunately, 1-800-COLLECT owned the misspelled number and had been taking their customers.
GY0y5 TIL that up until 1912, Americans could place an order in the Sears catalog and receive a syringe, two needles, and two vials of heroin in a handsome carrying case from the German pharmaceutical company Bayer for $1.50