› added 11 years ago

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TIL the sound of Maleficent breathing fire as a dragon in “Sleeping Beauty” is sampled from footage of US Army flamethrower drills

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rNamM TIL: Art was once an Olympic sport. This was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin (Founder of modern games) Between 1912 and 1948 medals were given out for sporting-inspired masterpieces of architecture, music, painting, sculpture and literature.
69MRQ TIL about Marcellus Williams, a Missouri man facing death row despite provable innocence. His execution date is September 24th, and despite both defense and prosecutors believing his innocence, attempts to move for clemency have been blocked.
b9V9p TIL how cranes are built. For years I've wondered how these cranes are placed in a building, near to where I lived, or just there in the first place. Then this video popped up and answered all my questions.
Eg9dX TIL of the Euphemistic Treadmill whereby euphemisms, which were originally the polite term (such as STD to refer to Venereal Disease) become themselves pejorative over time.
MeO9W TIL West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) deemed it unconstitutional to force ordinary citizens to participate in patriotic rituals. The initial case was for refusal due to religious reasons, but the ruling was generalized to allow all forms of refusal.