› added 5 years ago

120

TIL: The Beethoven family is not German, but Belgian. The grandfather was a talented singer and later became music master (Kapelmeister) at the Court of Bonn. His talents jumped a generation to manifest in the grandson, who had the same name as the grandfather: Ludwig van Beethoven!

Read more popularbeethovcom

via reddit.com

x658k TIL when Marlon Brando planned to get circumcized in the 1990s, he believed that his ability to meditate had given him a high pain tolerance and thus wanted the procedure to be conducted without using painkillers or anaesthesia. He was unhappy when he later found out that anesthesia is required.
rRPxw TIL NASA's longest serving female employee since January 1958, Sue Finley, has been an engineer and programmer for space missions since Explorer 1, for missions to the Moon, Sun, all the planets and many other solar system bodies, and recipient of NASA's Exceptional Public Service Medal.
R507w TIL that the name for the band Devo comes from the concept of "de-evolution" and the band's related idea that instead of continuing to evolve, mankind had begun to regress, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society.
9rrD TIL In Finland, teachers have the same social status as doctors and lawyers. In 2010, over 6600 applicants vied for only 660 primary school training slots.
9wK4r TIL that the largest trial in world history was the Maxi Trial against the Sicilian Mafia, that lasted 6 years. Of the 475 mobsters indicted, 338 were convicted and sentenced to a total of 2,665 years, not including life sentences handed to 19 bosses