/f/todayilearned
TIL General Hancock chose to sacrifice an entire regiment to save the Union Army during the Civil War. The 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment, 250 men, was ordered to charge a brigade of roughly 1200 men. They suffered a staggering 82% casualties; the largest loss by any surviving U.S unit in a day.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by ChronosBlitz t3_y5q6ka
Submitted by kellenbrent t3_y4z4sq
TIL the US didn’t have the $15m to pay France for Louisiana, so they financed it through a banks in London. Napoleon had made the deal with the US to fund his war against Great Britain and Europe. Britain allowed this deal to go through only because they didn’t want France to have their NA territory
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Gagarin1961 t3_y4oczp
TIL that Michael Jackson's Thriller album was the best-selling album in the U.S. for 2 years straight, sold 32 million copies worldwide by 1983, and was certified 34x Platinum by the RIAA in 2021, making it one of only two albums to ever get more than 3x Diamond certified.
nme.comSubmitted by Random_ReditUser t3_y44bqx
TIL in the 2006 documentary "This Film is Not Yet Rated" the director hired detectives to uncover the identities of the MPAA ratings & appeal boards, revealing that the former received very little training for rating films, and the latter consisted of studio/theater execs - as well as two clergymen
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by CaptainJZH t3_y2nn0f
TIL Marjoe Gortner is an Evangelical preacher who decided to pull the curtain back on the scams he and other preachers used. He invited a crew to film behind the scenes as he revealed tricks of the trade and the sacks full of cash he earned nightly. It won the '72 Academy Award Best Documentary
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Bluest_waters t3_y2ewlo
TIL the British had a secret WW2 plan called Operation Tracer to leave behind an observation post if the Germans captured Gibraltar. Six men were to be sealed inside a hidden chamber to observer the harbor and Strait of Gibraltar. They would have had 7 years of supplies and bicycle-powered radios.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Bandit_the_Kitty t3_y25jre
TIL in an effort to protect her son and daughter from falling under the sinister charms of Charles Manson, Angela Lansbury relocated her family from LA to Ireland. Describing Ireland as “free from bad influences”, she then refused work to better support their recovery from heroin addiction.
grunge.comSubmitted by Unlucky-Pomegranate3 t3_y252sa
TIL that although the TV Series "I Dream of Jeannie" was never a hit for NBC, when it went into syndicated reruns independent stations in New York and Washington DC ran it in Prime Time and won their time slots against all shows on NBC, CBS and ABC. This was a first for a non-network show.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by AspireAgain t3_y1bwr5
TIL the Roman Emperor was on good terms with Attila the Hun until his sister sent Attila her engagement ring and asked for help to escape betrothal to a senator. Attila took this as a marriage proposal and demanded half the western empire as dowry. When the Emperor refused, Attila invaded.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by shallowblue t3_y0ylxv
TIL that when he was an 18-year-old high school senior LeBron James was offered $10 million by Reebok on the spot, under the condition that he would not speak with Nike or Adidas. He turned down the offer and later signed a $90 million deal with Nike.
cnbc.comSubmitted by Lagavulin16_neat t3_y0ut7q