› added 10 years ago

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TIL the U.S. Coast Guard occasionally received telegrams from concerned citizens, who apparently did not realize Gilligan’s Island was a scripted show, pleading for them to rescue the people on the deserted island.

x6p17 TIL that the 401(k) retirement plan was created as a tax shelter for rich executives. Before its introduction, companies would create deferred savings accounts for executives so to avoid paying taxes, but the government caught on and formalized the rules as the 401k.
xGpg TIL Betty White is a huge animal lover who would have become a zookeeper had she not gone into acting. She rejected a role in “As Good As It Gets” because of an animal cruelty scene, she visits local zoos when traveling, and she’s been a long-term board member and generous donor to the L.A. Zoo.
wLwe1 TIL a Bellagio Bandit stole $1.5 million worth of casino chips, however, these chips turned out to be worthless, so, he joined an online forum, trying to sell the chips he had just stolen from the biggest casino in Las Vegas. He was soon caught and sentenced to prison for 3 to 11 years
Z84JR TIL of the Tulsa Center of the Universe. An acoustic anomaly located in Oklahoma. When one stands in the center of the circle and makes a noise, that noise is echoed back several times louder than it was made, but no one standing outside the circle can hear a thing.
aw9Ky TIL that during the space race, Stanley Kubrick was so worried that humans would soon make first contact with aliens that he tried to buy an insurance policy for 2001: A Space Odyssey in case audiences found his depiction of aliens ridiculous.