› added 5 years ago

152

TIL that in 1985, while taking a break from the Geneva Summit, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to ally with one another if aliens attacked

Read more smithsonianmag.com

via reddit.com

kpx7 TIL that during WWII, Ford profited from its factory in Germany. It used ppl from concentration camps to produce military vehicles for the Nazis. In 1945, the US gov paid Ford $1m for damage to the factory caused by Allied bombings. When Holocaust survivors later sued, Ford got the case dismissed.
786P TIL, Freddie Mercury used to call his maids while touring and insist on talking to his cats
9wVw7 TIL Blue Bunny ice cream was named in a 1935 contest. The winner noted how much his little boy enjoyed seeing blue bunnies in a department store window at Easter and thought it made a fun name. He won $25 (today's equivalent, $560).
pYDQp TIL that Princess Elizabeth took her corgi Susan, a gift from King George VI for her 18th birthday, on her 1947 honeymoon. Hidden under carriage rugs during the wedding parade, Susan later joined the couple at Broadlands, even riding in a Jeep driven by Prince Philip.
KG0E TIL that businesses like McDonald’s and Starbucks buy chairs with low ‘butt ratings’ that have a measured time before they become too uncomfortable for patrons to stay.