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TIL of the Mechanical Turk, a chess-playing "automaton" from the 1700s actually operated by a cleverly hidden human. It toured the palaces of Europe, even playing against Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon, who attempted to cheat multiple times, prompting the Turk to swipe all the pieces off the board.

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vPPJK TIL Although “Blade Runner” has become one of the most critically acclaimed science fiction films in history, it was originally a box-office dud. it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Wk5Y8 TIL not only was Sterling Holloway Jr. the voice actor of the snake Kaa in the 1967 “The Jungle Book” and the Cheshire Cat in the 1951 “Alice in Wonderland”, but most famously he was the original voice of Pooh from “Winnie the Pooh”.
JYWdj TIL the US lead a 65 nation protest of the 1980 summer Olympic Games in Moscow because the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979
loemK TIL when the Grand Canyon divided the local squirrel population, they evolved into two different species. Despite being separated only by the Colorado River and remaining extremely similar in appearance, they are now so genetically incompatible that they can no longer interbreed.
OG9w1 TIL in 2012, Choi Gap-bok, a Korean yoga master escaped from prison by squeezing through the food slot at the bottom of his cell door. The slot was 5.9 inches tall and 17.7 inches wide. Choi applied skin oil to his body and slipped out while three guards were sleeping.