/f/todayilearned
TIL The Stranger (1946) was the first Hollywood film to include footage of the Holocaust. The film's director, Orson Welles, who saw footage at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in May 1945, described the newsreels as "putrefaction of the soul, a perfect spiritual garbage"
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_ze4gxg
TIL about the Köln Concert, a 1974 piano recital by Keith Jarrett. The venue’s piano was smaller than specified, was out of tune, and had malfunctioning pedals, forcing Jarrett to improvise around its shortcomings. The concert recording is the best-selling solo jazz and best-selling piano album.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by EtOHMartini t3_11ekq9o
TIL the band Grateful Dead got its name in 1965 after Jerry Garcia found the term in the Britannica World Language Dictionary along with the definition "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial".
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by big_macaroons t3_z2xam8
TIL that the labels on Angostura bitters bottles are intentionally annoying. The original brothers entered a competition and due to a miscommunication, wound up with wrong size labels. A friendly judge suggested the brothers make that label their signature. The advice stuck.
esquire.comSubmitted by dmanlian t3_11dgwjo
TIL that elements of the ancient Mesopotamian religion (first formed in the 6th millennium BC) may have survived until the early 20th century. The Shamsīyah, a sect of sun-worshippers, persisted in southeastern Turkey (sometimes outwardly adopting Christian customs) until the early 1900s.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by RexSueciae t3_zxb59h
TIL that in the 1980s musical "Chess", the American's fortunes change depending on which version is being played; in the West End version, he quits the match and loses his World Championship, while in the Broadway version, he discovers a tactical edge and gains it.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by London-Roma-1980 t3_114pobs
Submitted by theAusterityClinic t3_1144ufw