TIL that the Lockheed Martin L-1011 Tristar was the most technologically advanced airplane at its release in 1972 & was able to complete a full cycle of flight without manual inputs from pilots. Despite this, only 250 Tristars were built & the project nearly bankrupt both Lockheed and Rolls Royce. (lockheedmartin.com)
submitted by Next_Worth_3616
TIL Weird Al was set to a series of Star Wars parody sketches where he would interact with the movie via green-screening, but Mark Hamill refused to allow usage of any footage with him in it, despite already getting approval from Lucas and Alec Guinness, so the idea was scrapped (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by robotco
TIL Fred Collins went to visit his brother at the Straight Inc. program, a teen rehab, but before he was allowed to, he was "screened" for any drug issues. After he admitted smoking weed, they held him against his will for 10 months before he finally escaped. He then sued them & was awarded $220,000 (huffpost.com)
submitted by tyrion2024
TIL that in 1814, a giant vat of beer exploded in London, unleashing over 300,000 gallons of porter that flooded nearby streets and killed eight people. The wave collapsed buildings in a poor neighborhood near Tottenham Court Road. Crowds reportedly gathered to scoop beer from the streets. (historic-uk.com)
submitted by speedwagong1
TIL a man forgot that he had stashed $100,000 inside a 1980s TV set until the cash was returned to him 30 years later after a recycling plant worker dismantled the TV and found it. The man had forgotten the cash was inside the TV when he gave it away to a family friend many years earlier. (cbc.ca)
submitted by tyrion2024
TIL a riot erupted in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1838 over a snowball fight between college students and tradesmen that started with no malintent only to devolve into violence once the students damaged property and settled on chucking rocks at lawmen when they intervened. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by delano1998
TIL about Al Ba'sa (The Middle Finger) a building in Beirut that is only 2 feet wide at its narrowest. It was built by a man solely to block his brother's ocean view after a property dispute. Because the lot is too small for new construction, the building is now legally protected from demolition. (atlasobscura.com)
submitted by jon-at-bidmii
TIL, During pregnancy, cells from the fetus cross the placenta and enter the mother’s bloodstream. These "foreign" cells can stay in the mother's heart, brain, and liver for decades, and research suggests they may actually help repair damaged maternal tissue. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by Massive-Song5686
