› added 7 years ago

200

TIL: Broadway producer David Merrick once found 7 average New Yorkers with the same names as 7 of the top theater critics to see one of his poorly reviewed shows. He then printed ads quoting the 7 namesakes' rave reviews. The show remained open for another 6 months

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

W7XBo TIL after completing his short film Frankenweenie, Disney fired filmmaker Tim Burton for spending the company's resources on a film that would be too dark and scary for children to see. Decades later, he remade the film as a feature-length stop motion film, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
4kK0b TIL The deadliest aviation accident in US history was American flight 191 at O'Hare Airport in Chicago in 1979. The DC-10 passenger plane crashed just after takeoff, killing all 273 people aboard. The FAA promptly banned all DC-10s from flying in US airspace pending investigation.
9Y71m TIL eating Oreos may cause your poop to turn black. Due mostly to the artificial food coloring and chemicals in packaged cookies.
ABv7 TIL the projectile in badminton, called a shuttlecock, can be real feathers or synthetic. Real feather shuttlecocks, like those used in the Olympics, contain 16 feathers plucked from the left, and only left, wing of a goose. This ensures consistent rotation.
Wj0X TIL saloop, a drink of ground orchid tubers, was a popular 18th century alternative to coffee or tea until it became rumoured to cure venereal disease. After that drinking it in public became shameful.