› added 7 months ago

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TIL Ben Stiller developed the premise for Tropic Thunder while shooting Empire of the Sun. He wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who became "self-important" & appeared to believe they had been part of a real military unit after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles.

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j6EpM TIL that the Danish word for "Pimp" is "Alfons," after the protagonist in the play Monsieur Alphonse by Alexandre Dumas, fils. As a result, although "Alfons" is the name of a popular children's book character, the name remains very rare. As of 2016, only 8 people were named "Alfons" in Denmark.
Me1PK TIL that Irene Triplett is the sole surviving person receiving a Civil War pension from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Irene's father, Mose Triplett, was born in 1846, managed to fight on both sides of the Civil War, and was 83 when Irene was born.
5VAdr TIL that in 1975 Air France commissioned to French composer Franck Pourcel an anthem for their new supersonic plane, the Concorde
8odX TIL: A cockroach can live for a week without its head. The roach only dies because without a mouth, it can’t drink water and dies of thirst.
16V6O Today I learned that the world's largest parking lot is at the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and has 20,000 spaces. An adjoining overflow parking lot has an additional 10,000 spaces.