› added 10 years ago

171

TIL when Team Canada’s Olympic gold medal-winning goalie Shannon Szabados was invited to take practice with the perennial last-place Edmonton Oilers in the spring of 2014, someone asked her if she was worried about getting hit on by the players. Her response: “Nope, they can’t score anyways.”

BrPVd TIL the lead role in "Edward Scissorhands" was originally offered to Tom Cruise, but he wanted a happier ending and declined. And before given to Johnny Depp - Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, Jim Carrey, John Cusack, William Hurt, Robert Downy Jr., and Michael Jackson had all been offered and/or considered.
1686P TIL Karen Baldwin, wife of Pittsburgh Penguins owner Howard Baldwin, came up with the pitch for the 1995 action film Sudden Death, filmed at the Penguins' arena. Howard Baldwin produced the film and later opened a production company.
d8MbE TIL that 60 Minutes ran a story on the Audi 5000 in 1986, claiming that it accelerated suddenly on its own. However, the demonstration used a rigged car whose transmission had been altered. Government agencies vindicated the car, but Audi's sales were affected. 60 minutes never apologised to Audi.
wLKX1 TIL that in 1944 Dutch Resistance members dressed as German SD (intelligence agents) went into Leeuwarden prison, and walked out with 39 prisoners, and all vanished into the city. No shots were fired, and the Germans never caught anyone.
NweM TIL that Zambia had a space program in the 1960s. It consisted of a grade school science teacher, a teenage girl and her cat, and a missionary.