› added 4 years ago

70

TIL the Russian slang Gopnik, which is a type of hooligan that is known for posing, and hanging out in large groups, in a squatting position.

QBK9 TIL that after wife Mia Farrow lost $20K at the Sands, Frank Sinatra bought $50K in chips and attempted to win the money back. After failing and being denied credit, Sinatra drove a golf cart into a coffee shop where the casino manager was seated and fought with him. He never performed there again.
N7ZP1 TIL the Union Army tried to invade Texas with 5000 men during the Civil War. The defending confederate side was only comprised of 50 Irishmen. The defenders killed or captured over 200 union soldiers, destroyed 2 gunboats and suffered no losses themselves and received Irish styled medals as a reward
p8kkG TIL that Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) studied ballet as a girl & danced professionally by the age of 14, winning multiple prestigious scholarships. Told she did not have the right body to become a prima ballerina by Mikhail Baryshnikov himself, she changed her focus to acting.
0wLGp TIL that in Poznan, Poland, eight clams get to decide if people in the city get water or not. They’re equipped with sensors atop them that trip the water supply pumps when they close due to detecting something unsafe in the water.
R7ED7 TIL that from 1943-45, British military pilots were issued "escape boots". If they had to bail out over enemy territory, a concealed knife in one boot cоuld bе used to cut away the upper section, and convert them into "ordinary" shoes, which would help the airman pass himself off as a civilian