› added 5 years ago

120

TIL - in the 1980s, American Airlines needed cash, and sold lifetime, unlimited use, first class passes. Two men, in particular, made excellent use (traveling millions of miles and getting flights for strangers) until American revoked the “unlimited” passes.

epnVg TIL NASA’s Space Exploration Vehicle is a concept of a modular vehicle for planetary exploration or use in open space. It’s the size of a small pickup & has a bathroom & shower, plus beds
N7Byb TIL a man was hit by a Metro train going 70mph and his flying body parts injured a woman. She sued his estate on the theory that “If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it“
gMnl4 TIL Heinz ketchup became so popular because Heinz invented a way to keep commercially produced ketchup red, which allowed him to package it in clear glass bottle and look more appealing. Before it, commercially produced ketchup was brown.
P1eeJ TIL that at the ancient Olympics, cheating athletes would be fined and the fines used to build bronze statues at the entrance of the Olympic stadium, each inscribed with the name of the cheater and how they cheated
8aOVZ TIL: At Major League Baseball parks, one doesn't see local dirt (sandy in Florida, farmland black in the MidWest, etc) but rather a standardized clay-rich orange "infield mix." Over 20 stadiums use dirt "imported" from Slippery Rock, PA. The official dirt is shipped in and mixed with regional sand.