› added 6 years ago

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TIL that Mister Rogers, in 1968, hired the first black actor to have a recurring role on a children’s show --François Clemmons. Clemmons portrayed a police officer on Mister Rogers neighborhood.

VMpO8 TIL when the Romanov family was executed in 1918 the daughters Tatiana, Anastasia, and Maria survived the initial gunfire because they had over 1.3 kilograms (2.9 pounds) of diamonds sewn into their clothing, which the bullets ricocheted off. They were subsequently killed with bayonets.
LkMd0 TIL after his bomber was hit, RAF gunner Nicholas Alkemade decided to jump from 18,000 feet without a parachute, just moments before his bomber blew up. He landed on top of a snow cover and survived with only a twisted knee. The Germans were so impressed they certified the story as being authentic.
4oB5 TIL that when Frederick the Great banned coffee in Prussia in 1777, saying beer was superior for “breakfast drinking,” people started drinking a coffee substitute called “Muckefuck.”
AN9rd TIL that the reason you get chills from a fever isn't because you're physically cold. It's the brain setting your body temp higher to fight the infection and tricking your body into thinking the temperature is wrong so the chills can help increase heat.
6EVVm TIL: 72 year old US Senator John Stennis of Mississippi was mugged and shot twice in front of his home in 1973. Despite being severely wounded he managed to walk into his home and call an ambulance. He would live another 22 years