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TIL That in 1942 the United States military increased the draft to include men ages 45-64.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man%27s_Draft
https://redd.it/1gwyp7a
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TIL that profanity is often preserved in people with brain injures, even when other speech is lost, suggesting the brain processes swear words differently from other language.
https://temple-news.com/temple-researchers-link-brain-injuries-and-curse-words/
https://redd.it/1gxk9lh
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TIL Michael Keaton's real name is Michael Douglas. When he moved to Los Angeles, there was already an actor named Michael Douglas, so Keaton flipped through a phone book until he saw the name Keaton and decided to make it his stage name.
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Keaton
https://redd.it/1gxis17
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TIL Billionaire Chuck Feeney donated over $8 Billion to different causes supporting health science and improving the human condition. He spent his last days in a rented apartment in San Francisco with remaining assets of $2 Million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Feeney
https://redd.it/1gxfyft
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TIL Ryan Reynolds paid $10,000 of his own money for the right to wear a shirt with The Golden Girl’s Bea Arthur on it in Deadpool. The estate agreed for a donation in that amount to a charity of their choosing. Ryan paid it himself because he felt you couldn’t have Deadpool without Bea Arthur.
https://www.vulture.com/2016/06/ryan-reynold-paid-to-have-bea-arthur-in-deadpool.html
https://redd.it/1gxirgg
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TIL that Great Britain and Finland were the only European countries to participate in WW2 that weren't fully occupied
https://finland.fi/life-society/defensive-victory-led-the-way-to-peace/
https://redd.it/1gwjpx9
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TIL the second Mongol Khan, Ögedei Khan, was well known for his alcoholism. When his brother, Chagatai, entrusted an official to watch his habit, he vowed to reduce the number of cups he drank a day, only then having cups twice the size created for his personal use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96gedei_Khan#Character
https://redd.it/1gwmxfz
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TIL that in the short story "Button, Button" (press button, get $ and someone you don't know dies) the husband dies because the wife didn't "really" know him and the author hated the Twilight Zone ending where the button was given to a stranger after being pressed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button,_Button_(The_Twilight_Zone)#Short_story
https://redd.it/1gwrw2c
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TIL that Chuck Jones, one of the original Looney Tunes directors, hated Space Jam. In particular he took issue with the premise that Bugs Bunny would ask others for help in fighting the Monstars and believed Bugs would have fought them himself.
https://www.looper.com/211131/the-untold-truth-of-space-jam/
https://redd.it/1gwsibx
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TIL on November 29th 2001, Mike Myers received the final letter George Harrison ever sent anybody. Being a fan of satire, George hand wrote the letter expressing his admiration for Mike’s Austin Powers movies. Mike received it on the set of Austin Powers 3 on the day George died.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/george-harrison-final-letter-mike-myers/
https://redd.it/1gwkd98
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TIL a high-ranking dinosaur ant who challenges her queen but fails will be immobilized, publicly chastised for several days, join the working class and lose all hope of ever ruling or reproducing
https://www.science.org/content/article/no-sex-rebellious-ants
https://redd.it/1gvifc5
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TIL about Patum Peperium, a Gentleman's Relish made and sold in Britain since 1828, which has a secret recipe, known to only one employee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentleman%27s_Relish
https://redd.it/1gvwmer
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TIL an fMRI study mapping the female genitals onto the sensory portion of the brain found that nipple self-stimulation activates the genital sensory cortex, the same area as clitoral, vaginal, and cervical self-stimulation.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3186818/
https://redd.it/1gvp270
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TIL that one of the most celebrated Bugs Bunny cartoons was thought up when the head of the cartoon studio randomly and inexplicably told the animators that they were not to make any cartoons about bullfighting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_for_Bugs
https://redd.it/1gvqd5g
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TIL that the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to celebrate JFK's birthday was irreparably damaged after Kim Kardashian wore it in 2022, even though Kardashian lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to fit into it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday,_Mr._President#Dress
https://redd.it/1gw0oyu
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TIL the Indian state of Uttar Prades has 241 million inhabitants making it the most populous country subdivision in the world. It has 3% of the world's population and outranks all but 4 countries outside India in population
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh
https://redd.it/1gx40wx
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TIL 92% of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels have skull malformations that squish part of their brain into their spinal column.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5461676/
https://redd.it/1gxa2cf
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TIL that in 1933, a man named A.L. Kahn caught a massive 20-foot, 5,000-pound manta ray off the coast of New Jersey. It took hours, the help of his crew, and even several dozen gunshots from the U.S. Coast Guard to finally reel in what was called a "devil fish."
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/giant-manta-ray-photo/
https://redd.it/1gxgkw9
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TIL Before 2022, it was unknown how eels reproduced
https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/how-eels-reproduce#:~:text=For%20years,%20the%20epic%20life,fertilised%20by%20the%20male%20eels
https://redd.it/1gxcdtc
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TIL: between 1997 and 2007, 31 young people have died from digging holes in sand at the beach, after the hole collapsed sand on to them, suffocating them to death.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc070913
https://redd.it/1gwal9x
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TIL that the ancient Greeks used butter as a medicine and thought only barbarians ate it. In the Middle Ages, it was sometimes used as lamp oil but was mainly eaten by peasants. It only became popular among the wealthy when the church allowed its consumption during Lent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter
https://redd.it/1gwfncm
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TIL that Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling animal on the planet. They are astonishingly intelligent, with high IQ and problem solving, and have been named the world’s most intelligent animal in a study that places them even above chimpanzees and dolphins.
https://earth.org/facts-about-orangutans/
https://redd.it/1gwhyao
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TIL over 30 years ago, Paul McCartney agreed to be in an episode of the Simpsons in part if the producers met his demand that Lisa Simpson becoming a vegetarian would be a permanent part of the series moving forward. They agreed and Lisa met Paul and Linda on Apu’s rooftop garden, in the shade.
https://www.portablepress.com/blog/2015/11/paul-mccartneys-backward-lentil-soup/
https://redd.it/1gwp31b
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TIL: After the 2017 movie "It" there was a spike in coulrophiliacs, or people who are attracted to clowns, mainly among women. Vice interviewed Sugar Weasel, a clown escort who say women were typically clients. Props are a major part of the scene.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-the-kinky-brightly-colored-world-of-clown-fetishists/
https://redd.it/1gweglh
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TIL the largest battle of the American Revolution was not fought in the American colonies or by American revolutionaries. It was the Great Siege of Gibraltar, in which Spain unsuccessfully tried to take advantage of the war overseas to reclaim Gibraltar from Britain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Siege_of_Gibraltar
https://redd.it/1gw0q7u
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TIL there is a rare condition called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, where soft tissues in the body gradually turn into bone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progressiva
https://redd.it/1gvkcog
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TIL "flotsam" pertains to goods (i.e. shipping containers) that are floating on the surface of the water as the result of a wreck or accident. One who discovers flotsam is allowed to claim it unless someone else establishes their ownership of it. Even then, items may still be claimable by the finder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flotsam,_jetsam,_lagan_and_derelict
https://redd.it/1gvneij
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TIL The guy who designed Big Ben in London went insane a few months after finishing the clock design and handing the design to the project boss who never credited him for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Pugin#Illness_and_death
https://redd.it/1gvm8y3
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TIL while on safari, Hemingway survived 2 plane crashes one day apart. The 2nd caught fire & he had to smash open the door with his head, causing extensive burns & skeletal injuries. He was presumed dead until he walked out of the jungle "in high spirits", carrying bananas and a bottle of gin.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hemingway-and-his-wife-survived-two-plane-crashes-just-one-day-apart-180982884/
https://redd.it/1gvw98m
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TIL: That the Don McLean song "Vincent" was a particular favorite of the rapper and actor Tupac Shakur. The song was played to him at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, the hospital that he was admitted to just before he died of gunshot wounds from a drive-by shooting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_(Don_McLean_song)
https://redd.it/1guue10
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