› added 5 years ago

210

TIL that Akira Kurosawa was unable to get funding after a series of flops, and only returned to filmmaking after attempted suicide when the Soviet Union enlisted him to make a film set in Russia

Read more unseenjapan.com

via reddit.com

WkgPX TIL the last English knight to be publicly degraded (stripped of knighthood) was Francis Mitchell in 1628. He’d committed extortion. His spurs were broken and thrown out, his belt cut, and his sword broken over his head. He was called "no longer a Knight but Knave" and led to the Tower of London.
nyGG TIL Canada had a Mach-2 fighter before any other country, but it was cancelled for political reasons. The engineers went to NASA and put Neil Armstrong on the Moon.
ADDD7 TIL that the Temple of Artemis was burned by a man named Herostratus who sought to live in infamy. Despite his name becoming illegal to say, to deny him that infamy, it eventually become a metonym “Herostratic fame” meaning someone who commits an act to gain notoriety and infamy.
6pY7 TIL the metal band of a Mason Jar is suppose to be removed for storage to prevent residual water between the jar threads and the lid from rusting the band. If the jar seal is properly formed, internal vacuum will keep the lid tightly on the jar.
ryyd TIL that the Swedish warship Vasa, which famously sank in 1628 less than a mile into its maiden voyage, was built asymmetrically. Archaeologists have found four rulers used by the workers; two turned out to be based on Swedish feet with 12 inches. The other two used Amsterdam feet, with 11 inches.