› added 1 year ago

170

TIL that the top mathematics student at Cambridge University is known as the Senior Wrangler. In 1880 J. J. Thomson was so confident he was #1 that he sent his servant to find out how others had ranked. When Thomson asked "Who was Second Wrangler?", he was told "You were, sir"; Joseph Larmor was #1.

8em1b TIL Chilean sea bass was nearly fished into extinction after its appearance in the lunch scene in Jurassic Park.
e08VE TIL That following the reporting of the sun newspaper on the Hillsborough disaster, almost every reader in Liverpool cancelled their subscription and most shops boycotted it, meaning that it's still very difficult to find a copy in the city over 30 years later.
Bgwbk Today I learned that the figures in Philadelphia City Hall actually have meaning. Well, at least I learned about one group. Now to learn about the rest.
1anJV TIL Burt Reynolds was considered for the role of Michael Corleone but Brando said he would walk if they cast him. “He is the epitome of something that makes me want to throw up. He is the epitome of everything that is disgusting about the thespian, he worships at the temple of his own narcissism.”
v1AJD TIL that The Flaming Lips have to pay half of all royalties for the song ‘Fight Test’ to Yusuf Islam after he sued them for ripping off his ‘Father and Son’. Despite the songs’ striking similarity, Lips’ frontman Wayne Coynes said it was unintended and he only realised when his producer heard it