› added 10 years ago

77

TIL that during WWII American soldiers in the Pacific theatre would use the word ‘lollapalooza’ to challenge unidentified persons, on the premise that Japanese people often pronounce the letter L as R

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

pY1nO TIL Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Academy Award (Gone with the Wind, 1939), was not allowed to attend the film’s premiere in Atlanta, had to sit at a segregated table at the Oscars, and was denied her final request to be buried at Hollywood Cemetery when she died in 1952.
b9Gl9 TIL about the time Karen tried to speak to the manager of a submarine
RY0j TIL that on August 11, 1984, Ronald Reagan joked about attacking the Soviet Union, not realizing that he was being recorded. He said “"My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”
m9eM TIL in 1980, a German reporter by the name of Jurgen Heinzpeter, exposed the atrocities of the South Korean government during the Gawngju Uprising. He snuck into Gwangju with the help of a local taxi driver and documented the killing of civilian protesters.
NRvJ TIL that the clay that the London Underground’s deep level lines were tunnelled through has reached heat saturation, and parts of the Underground that were 14°C in the 1900s can reach 30°C today.