› added 10 years ago

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TIL John Wayne, after some phone complaints, went down and told Frank Sinatra to end a party held in the suite directly below his own. A bodyguard confronted him, Wayne looked at him & turned as if to leave, then backhanded him and smashed a chair over his head. The noise stopped.

7rkkO TIL that in Classical Athens, the citizens could vote each year to banish any person who was growing too powerful, as a threat to democracy. This process was called Ostracism.
PYY8w TIL Tom Petty needed an actress to be a dead woman for a music video. He explained his choice by saying "She's got to look really good, or why would [I] keep her around after she's dead?" I thought, Kim Basinger would be good. I'd probably keep her for a day or two, let's go see if she would do it."
Ooxj1 TIL Kirkpatrick MacMillan, who invented the bicycle (disputed) also has the first recorded instance of a bicycle traffic offense, when he knocked over a pedestrian in Glasgow and was fined 5 shillings.
MeB6A TIL about Andy the goose who was born in Hastings, Nebraska with no feet. A local inventor named Gene Fleming heard of this and fitted Andy with specially made Nike baby shoes. Andy gained fame as a role model for disabled children and Nike provided him with a lifetime supply of shoes.
780Xx TIL: During the 1960s comic book era "chemical experimentation" among the industry was common and legendary Batman editor Denny O'Neil was dared to spike Stan Lee's coffee with LSD at one point by a fellow writer.