› added 9 years ago

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TIL that Donald Duck has a huge cult following in Germany. Belonging to the society “D.O.N.A.L.D”, fans (known as Donaldists) hold annual meetings, have lectures, and have even infiltrated respected German newspapers, where they’ve inserted Donald quotes only other Donaldists would understand.

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via reddit.com

wLpj6 TIL about Stank Baker, a man who had been booked to fly on the 1931 Avro Ten Southern Cloud disappearance only to cancel his flight and travel by train instead which saved his life. Because of this, he gained a fear of flying which became justified when he was killed by another flight 19 years later
R7aaw TIL In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon with an official number. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after her trying to stop. The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines.
8anXG TIL: a “fair” coin toss doesn’t truly have a 50/50 chance of landing on either side, but rather a 51% chance of showing the side originally facing up, according to a 2004 Stanford study on angular dynamics
OmAa TIL Indiana Jones may have been inspired by American political scientist William Montgomery McGovern, who by age 30 had already explored the Amazon and braved uncharted regions of the Himalayas, survived revolution in Mexico, studied at Oxford and become a Buddhist priest in a Japanese monastery.
jyeQ TIL that Samuel L. Jackson was supposed to have an afro in Pulp Fiction. He was losing his hair so needed a wig. A PA went to get an Afro-style wig. The PA mistook the Afro for Jheri curls. Before they were able to return it, Jackson convinced Tarantino to keep it so he ended up wearing Jheri Curls.