VBo50 TIL that Edgar Allan Poe at age 27 married his 13-year old cousin, whom he loved more as a sister. (By then she was already a widow, and apparently they got married so he could provide for her).
X0onk TIL that Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda hosted a wrap-party for their 1969 film “Easy Rider”, before realizing that they forgot to shoot the final campfire scene. The motorcycles used in the film were previously stolen from set, which is why they’re not visible in the final campfire scene.
OGa7a TIL I learned that the fledgling Casablanca Records was saved from extinction by singing Donna Summer after the label went $7 million in debt on a live album of Johnny Carson which returned more copies than sold.
69VyQ TIL "Best of Joy" was the last song Michael Jackson ever recorded. An earlier version of it was called "The Toy", with the lyrics "I am your toy, I am your boy"
wok0Y TIL increasing the tax on tobacco products is one of the most effective ways in decreasing tobacco usage.
R5kKa TIL about lava crickets, crickets that make their home in cooled lava and drink seafoam to survive
W7o4L TIL children were most prone to lead poisoning because lead chips and toys with lead dust tasted "sweet".
9wlyp Today I Learned the SNP were cozying up to the NSDAP during WW2
nWxKW TIL about Kirk Allen, a senior member of the U.S. military who believed a series of popular sci-fi novels, in which he shared the protagonist's name, were his biography. He created full-color maps, sketches, and written stories, to fill in omitted details from his own recollection.
4kpyX TIL In 2013, Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, contributed a collection of Carl Sagan's personal documents to the Library of Congress. Sagan was a source of childhood inspiration for MacFarlane, which prompted MacFarlane's involvement in the Cosmos revival in 2014 and upcoming documentary
5VgDk TIL Thomas Jefferson was so impressed by macaroni and cheese during a visit to Paris that he wrote down the recipe and instructions on pasta extrusion, imported a pasta maker, macaroni, Parmesan, and made it at his home. He served it at a state dinner in 1802.
x6k01 TIL that, during the Cold War, every infantry and armor battalion in the U.S Army had one officer trained to deploy the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), commonly known as the backpack nuke