› added 10 years ago

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TIL that Grete Waitz, a middle distance runner, was recruited for the 1978 NYC Marathon to set a fast pace and drop out. She kept running, and won the race, setting a world record. As she neared the finish line, no one knew her name, and many thought she was a man with pigtails.

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via reddit.com

9Y6nM TIL of the War Horse Memorial—a statue honoring the nearly one million horses mules, and donkeys that lost their lives during the First World War. The statue features a horse named Poppy who possesses a gaunt physique and barbed wire wrapped around its hooves.
DQvyj TIL of Brent Hershman, a second-assistant cameraman on the 1997 movie “Pleasantville” - who died in a car accident after working 19 hours on the film’s set. His death sparked industry-wide demands for shorter workdays and inspired a 2006 documentary by filmmaker Haskell Wexler.
vZER TIL that the disclaimer “No animals were harmed during the making of this film” can be put on movies, even if animals died during the production, as long as cameras weren’t rolling at the time.
v7Y4 TIL Comedian Mitch Hedberg never passed on a job, having been told “no” so often early in his career that he felt like if he didn’t say “yes,” he might not be given the opportunity to perform again.
DQ5MV TIL that a Cirrus SR20 aircraft crashed into the Belaire Apartments in New York City on 2006