› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the first attempt to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand was a complete failure. The bomb bounced off the car, the assassin fled, swallowing a suicide pill then jumping into a nearby river. He could not even get that right, vomiting up the pill and landing in water that was barely ankle-deep.

JZE4 TIL that Pinball was considered gambling and banned between the 1940s to 1976. It ended when enthusiast Roger Sharpe played it before a committee and called out precisely what he was going to shoot for, and then did so. The ban was lifted since he had proven it was a game of skill, not chance.
XEmJQ TIL of the Chichijima Incident. During an air raid in Japan during WW2, 9 American airmen were shot down, with 8 of which captured, tortured and murdered (5 of which cannibalised). The only one who survived was George H.W. Bush, a then 20 year old pilot.
4kbgR TIL the British Columbia Lottery Corp. was ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars to gamblers whose jackpots were withheld because they had won them after volunteering to ban themselves from casinos. The ruling only covered a 14 month period due to a change in law in 2010.
R5r08 TIL that Pat Mastelotto of King Crimson played on drums on The Rembrandts song I'll be There for You AKA Friends theme.
b9b1j TIL On August 10, 1519, the Spanish expedition departed from Sevilla in search of the Spice Islands. This voyage resulted in the first circumnavigation of Earth. The expedition was composed by 5 ships: Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria and Santiago, under Ferdinand Magellan's command.