› added 10 years ago

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TIL that for Wayne’s World the studio wanted to use a Guns N’ Roses track instead of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” but Mike Myers fought to feature the Queen song, even threatening to quit the production unless it got in.

BrWEk TIL 'US Radium' employed women to paint dials of watches with radioactive radium paint. The women were instructed to point their brushes on their lips. This led to many of the workers' losing their jaws and even deaths. Company paid examiners covered it up and claimed they had syphilis.
b6PXp TIL about Violet Jessop who not only survived the sinking of the Titanic and her sister ship Britannic but was also on board the Olympic when it collided with another ship
pZpQ TIL in 1998, a man was tricked into being a Japanese reality-show where he was kept solitary in a room for 15 months until he could win $10k in mail-in sweepstakes. Also, he had to be naked the whole time and had no idea he was being broadcast on TV, being watched by millions of people.
6R97 TIL Rene Rancourt, who has been singing both the American and Canadian National Anthem at Boston Bruins games for over 35 years, has never had a contract with the Bruins. According to him, “…I’ve always just shown up and I’ve become associated with the Bruins.”
JYe8l TIL the first elephant in America was Old Bet, arriving in 1796. Capt Jacob Crowninshield bought it in Calcutta for $450 and sold it in New York for $10K. Old Bet was exhibited for years then sold to Hackaliah Bailey's circus. In 1816, Old Bet was shot in the eye and killed by a spectator.