› added 11 years ago

198

TIL Emir of Qatar donated $100 million to New Orleans intended to help rebuild housing, hospitals and schools after Hurricane Katrina.

p8Rdp TIL a Polish man received a building permit for a single-family home in the 1980s, he then spent his fortune building a 52-room castle, with 365 windows and 12 turrets. Once the authorities found out, they put an end to construction, he's still fighting with them now, 35 years later, to complete it.
KYBmB TIL the song Entrance of the Gladiators was included as a military march in the repertoire of pieces imposed by the SS on prisoners' orchestras to accompany the departures and returns of the work Kommandos in Nazis concentration camps. Today it’s used to signify clowns.
ANQZ7 TIL the ending of "The Bourne Supremacy" was reshot just two weeks before its release. Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon came up with a new idea that would cost $200,000 and involve pulling Damon from the set of Ocean's 12. The movie tested 10 points higher with the new ending and made $176m.
x68mk TIL HMS Terror disappeared in the 1830s, somewhere in Northern Canada. Expeditions to find it, from 2010-14 ignored Inuit reports of a wreck and focused elsewhere. When Inuit Ranger Sammy Cogvik insisted they change course, the ship was found in under 3 hours - in namesake Terror Bay
5XMD TIL there is a species of tiger beetles that run faster than their eyes can keep up. They run towards their prey, stop and re-evaluate the situation, and then sprint again, hoping they’ll run into their prey. They run at 5.6 mph, which is equivalent to a human running 480 mph.