› added 6 months ago

19

TIL about Alex Harvey, who co-wrote the song "Delta Dawn" about his mother after she appeared to him in a vision, reassuring him that "it's okay." Ten years earlier, Alex refused to let her visit him at his TV performance, fearing she would embarrass him. She died in a car crash later that night.

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jN1ep TIL To ensure sailors’ safe passage to the afterlife, Romans placed coins under ship masts during construction. This practice is still used in modern shipbuilding to ensure good luck.
b6mK9 TIL Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, a French entomologist, living in Medford, Mass. in the late 1800s, decided to create a cross-breed of caterpillars from native North American moths and European caterpillars Lymantria dispar, in order to start a competitive silk industry. (rest of the story in comment)
vnYx TIL That the Nazi Salute is said to have originated from the Roman Empire, but no surviving Roman art or text describes the salute. 18th century French painters labeled the gesture as the “Roman Salute”, and was adopted by European fascists in the early 1900s.
5YoQp TIL that 2014, a famously terrible year for video games, was the first year since 1983 where not a single video game was considered one of the all time greats. The requirement for this certification was appearing on at least six "best of all time" lists by different publications and journalists.
ErNX TIL that the pilot episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog was nominated for “Best Animated Short Film” at the 1995 Academy Awards.