› added 8 years ago

149

TIL the distinctive sound of the Martians speech in Mars Attacks was made by reversing the sound of a duck’s quack.

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l7vE5 TIL windshield wipers were originally invented by Mary Anderson in 1903. They were originally intended to be used for trolley cars, but she could not get any companies to use them. Cadillac began using the invention on cars in 1922 but she did not profit from the invention as the patent had expired.
gMENW TIL Some 'erasable' pens don't erase their ink. Instead it changes colour to become invisible.
6mNX TIL that in 1645, the French governor of Haiti imported over 1.600 prostitutes and sent them to the pirate haven of Tortuga in order to calm the pirates down a bit.
9wNED TIL that President Ulysses S. Grant was nearly bankrupted by a Ponzi scheme a year before his death, and was saved from near-destitution by partnering with Mark Twain on his memoirs
X0XYQ TIL in the Maori language the name for France is Wiwi (from overhearing the French say "Oui Oui" denoting agreement)