› added 2 months ago

65

TIL The 1896 Ford Quadricycle was Henry Ford's first attempt to build a gasoline-powered automobile and he tried to make it as simple as possible. He sold his Quadricycle for $200 in order to build his second car but bought the car back for $65 in 1904 after his company became successful

Read more thehenryford.org

via reddit.com

rRde4 TIL the nazi Sieg Heil was ridiculed by some people. Since "heil" is also the imperative of the German verb "heilen" ("to heal"), a common joke in Nazi Germany was to reply with "Is he sick?", "Am I a doctor?", or "You heal him!"
v1KbB TIL that in the 70s, the U.S government tried to create an artificial reef using concrete jacks and old tires. The reef ended up becoming an ecological disaster as it eroded, causing loose tires to be picked up by hurricanes and collide with natural reefs elsewhere.
wgXJ TIL: In 1930, Babe Ruth signed a contract for a record breaking $80,000. He was asked by a reporter what he thought of his yearly salary being more than President Hoover’s $75,000. His response: “I know, but I had a better year than Hoover.”
QDE6 TIL that in Billy Madison, Adam Sandler really hit the children hard during the dodgeball scene. The quick cuts weren’t to make it look like he was throwing hard, it was because the children were crying afterwards. Sandler’s pitch for the idea? “Hurting kids is funny.”
J1Yv1 TIL that Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean once wrecked a 1997 McLaren F1 twice and went on to receive Britain's largest insurance payout of all time (£910,000).