/f/todayilearned
TIL The Apollo 11 astronauts have a "circular" star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Neil Armstrong and co are recognised by Hollywood not for being the first humans on the moon, but for their "contributions to the television industry". [more in comments]
bbc.comSubmitted by ZER0SE7ENONETH t3_10qcg47
Submitted by t0rden-X t3_10mmtuq
Submitted by Ramachandrann t3_zzzrnh
TIL that when Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, journalist Giovanna Chirri was the first to break the news as she was the only one to understand Latin. She recalls: "He said it in Latin and I was panicking. I was short of breath, my legs were trembling, it was a reaction to shock."
catholicnewsagency.comSubmitted by lechattueur t3_zzs900
TIL two gifted college students considered themselves so superior they planned “the perfect murder” to prove their intellectual abilities. After murdering a child, despite their purported genius, they left plenty of evidence and were swiftly caught and brought to judgment.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by EdLoweLaw t3_zzdic3
TIL that after WW1, Americans dubbed sauerkraut “Liberty Lettuce” as a dig at German culture & Germans in general. In addition, the United States also banned German from being taught in schools, bars & saloons stopped selling pretzels, Dachshunds became “Liberty Pups, & German composers were banned.
tastingtable.comSubmitted by hobowhite t3_zylwdq
TIL the song 'Yankee Doodle' was used by British soldiers before the Revolutionary War to mock American soldiers, stereotyping them as rural simpletons who would think putting a feather in their caps would make them 'Macaroni' (i.e. cool), but was later used by Americans as an anthem of defiance.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by davetowers646 t3_zy5qh6
TIL Jacobo Pazzi was hanged next to a rotting corpse, then was buried, dug up and thrown in a ditch, then dragged through the streets, propped at the door of his palace with his head used as a doorknob, thrown in a river, fished out by children, hanged again, flogged and thrown back in the river
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Ainsley-Sorsby t3_zy4xko
TIL that King Tut's tomb was unusually small, likely due to his successor taking Tut's intended tomb for his own burial. King Tut's small tomb allowed it to be forgotten and spared from robberies, which led to him becoming famous in the modern era.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by No_Comparison2778 t3_zxpq1y
Submitted by avarensis t3_zxlzek