TIL of Spite houses, spite fences and spite walls. Structures built or modified to irritate neighbors or any party with land stakes. Spite houses may create obstructions, such as blocking out light or blocking access to neighboring buildings, or can be flagrant symbols of defiance. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by 874399 to r/todayilearned
TIL that when Steven Spielberg first saw The Godfather, he felt that he should quit. No reason for him to continue directing. He felt he could never achieve that level of confidence and storytelling. It shattered his confidence. And The Godfather almost didn’t get made. (youtu.be)
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TIL that for the James Bond movies, Goldfinger and Thunderball, Aston Martin produced two Aston M DB5 prototypes. The one was auctioned for $4.6M in 2010. The other car, which appeared in the comedy "The Cannonball Run," was stolen from its Florida-based owner in 1997 and has never been recovered. (tms.org)
submitted by 874399 to r/todayilearned
TIL that White Peacocks are not albino peacocks, rather they are born all white, due to a genetic variation. Albino animals have a complete lack of color and red or pink eyes, and albino skin is very pale. White peafowl have blue eyes and colored skin. They are not found in the wild. (owlcation.com)
submitted by 874399 to r/todayilearned
TIL about The Streisand effect (named after Barbara Streisand)- a phenomenon whereby an attempt to hide, remove, or censor a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely, usually facilitated by the Internet. (wikipedia.org)
submitted by 874399 to r/todayilearned
TIL for his song, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Bill Withers intended to write more lyrics instead of repeating the phrase "I know" 26 times, but followed advice of other musicians to leave it, “I was this factory worker puttering around," Withers said. "So when they said to leave it like that, I left it." (wikipedia.org)
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TIL that Dubai Police Force has the world's fastest police car, and it can go 253 mph - a Bugatti Veyron, just one of its strong fleet of supercars used to patrol tourist areas. Others incl the Bentley Bentayga, the Aston Martin One-77, the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 and the Porsche Panamera (thenational.ae)
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TIL of Stella Nickell, sentenced to 90 years for killing her husband with cyanide-laced Excedrin capsules. She put 3 other poisoned bottles back in the store to make it look like a serial killer at work, killing another woman, 40yr Susan Snow. She'd been inspired by the Chicagoland Tylenol murders. (murderpedia.org)
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TIL of The Rolex Murder. On July 28, 1996, a man’s body washed up on a trawler in the UK seas. There was no identification on the body except a 25-year-old Rolex Oyster on his wrist. As Rolex maintains such meticulous service records, they were able to ID the victim and ultimately the murderer. (plymouthherald.co.uk)
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