› added 5 years ago

87

TIL that the carriage Dorothy rides in in the Wizard of Oz was once owned by Abraham Lincoln.

Read more moviehouseprops.com

via reddit.com

lojd5 TIL singer-songwriter James Blunt served as a captain in the British Army. During the Kosovo war he took along his guitar which was strapped to the outside of his tank and would perform for troops and locals. He also intended to refuse an order to attack Russians to prevent WW3.
QnZd TIL that the first ever speeding fine was given to Walter Arnold of Kent, UK, in January 1896. His speed: 8mph in a 2mph zone. He was caught by a policeman on a bicycle.
VM1Xp TIL that the majority of Amtrak's delays are due to freight railroads giving priority to their own trains over passenger trains. Even though this is explicitly against the law, only 1 violator has ever been charged by the Dept. of Justice in the entire 47 year history of Amtrak.
OoK6X TIL following difficulties with understanding regional accents and dialects, in 2010 a translator firm started actively looking for interpreters who know the Scouse and Geordie variations of English.
x6elw TIL that Bulgarian scientist Victor Ninov fraudulently claimed to have discovered two new chemical elements (116 and 118) while working at Berkley. Later investigations found he had also falsified evidence for elements 110,111, and 112, but escaped consequence as real elements were soon found.