Post * x6mv7 — Curious Curator

› added 5 months ago

26

TIL: The founder of Aldi's the grocery chain was kidnapped in 1971 and held for ransom of ~$2 million USD. Upon release the founder (unsuccessfully) tried to claim the ransom payment as a tax deductible business expense in court.

Read more

l715r TIL that Kurt Cobain didn’t want to release “Come As You Are” as a single due to its similarity to “Eighties” by Killing Joke, but the record company insisted. However, Killing Joke abandoned legal action after Cobain’s death and Dave Grohl later contributed to one of their albums.

VM9Vp TIL The poet Charles de Gaulle, uncle of the general/politician of the same name, was fluent in Breton, Welsh, and Gaelic. Additonally de Gaulle wrote extensive poetry in the languages, but never visited a Celtic-speaking country, as his poor health confined him to his apartment in Paris.

6EK4Q TIL that Suzy Favor Hamilton, multiple time US champion and Olympic competitor in running, later worked as an escort prostitute, due to misdiagnosed bipolar disorder. After this was publicised, an award for Female Athlete of the Year named in her honour was renamed, and she lost her Nike sponsorship

Klg9 TIL a homeless man held up and robbed a bank for $1, then sat down and waited for police to arrest him so he could receive healthcare in prison.

mJ8y TIL that Dutch anti-immigrant right wing politician Geert Wilders is himself a mixed race and descendant of a mixed Dutch-Indonesian migrant from his mother. And his blond hair is actually also dyed.