› added 8 years ago

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TIL that Häagen-Dazs’s brand name is completely nonsensical, but is meant to sound vaguely Danish: the creator “sat at the kitchen table for hours saying nonsensical words until he came up with a combination he liked. The reason he chose this method was so that the name would be unique and original”

kO8j5 TIL that in the theatrical release of Bruce Almighty, God pages Bruce using a real phone number. The owners of the number (which included a church in North Carolina) got hundreds of phone calls from people wanting to talk to God. The TV/video versions were edited to show the fictional 555 exchange.
J7Jv TIL the Canadian Flag has become a symbol of quality in Somalia after Canada sent a shipment of genuine Toyota small trucks there. Apparently someone had been producing low-quality knock-off trucks. People have even started getting the flag as a tattoo there.
LkmlQ TIL there was a Navajo WWII POW in Nagasaki who survived the atomic bomb & was tortured for being "of Japanese descent", despite his denial. When the Japanese realized the secret US military code was in Navajo, they forced him to translate, although it was nonsense to him as he didn't know the code.
Nnb1 TIL When the Kurds revolted against British rule in the 1920’s, Winston Churchill said; “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against the uncivilized tribes… it would spread a lively terror.” Decades later, Saddam Hussein did what Churchill advocated (Poison Gas Attack on Halabja, 1988).
M7xwm TIL that "The Nutcracker" ballet wasn't considered a success when it premiered in 1892. It wasn't performed in the United States until the 1940s and didn't gain widespread popularity and develop into a holiday staple until the 1960s.