Post * pYnZA — Curious Curator

› added 2 years ago

406

TIL that Wheaties and other iron-fortified cereals will stick to magnets

Read more

1aYkX TIL that in the 60s, the Dutch were so frustrated with the government's monopoly on TV that they built an artificial island in the North Sea to transmit uncensored television. Eventually, the Netherlands legally expanded its maritime claim and the military raided the island by air.

QJEva TIL that as a result of the great difficulty in communicating and convening for assembly due to a lack of functioning roads, poorly maintained bridges and slow postal delivery, it took two months for George Washington to learn he had won the presidency

Ypvgd TIL of The Conqueror, a 1956 movie produced by Howard Hughes, starring John Wayne and filmed downwind from a nuclear weapons testing site. 91 crew members later developed cancer including Wayne and his two sons. Panned by critics, Hughes purchased every print to keep it out of circulation.

xVAmw TIL Folk Singer Phil Ochs was paranoid that the FBI was spying on him, saying, "I'm a folk singer for the FBI" in 1966. In reality the FBI had hundreds of pages on file, but Ochs never committed a federal crime. He continued to be under investigation until his death by suicide in 1976.

PYMbL TIL one of the last types of steam locomotive was maintained while the boiler was still in steam, by men in asbestos clothes entering the 220°F firebox and repairing the engine, while it was still under pressure. This was done to reduce downtime and allow a 6-day-a-week schedule.