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TIL Alfred Heineken proposed the creation of rectangular Heineken beer bottles, so that people in poor places could use the empty bottles as bricks to build structures. The company rejected the designs for a number of reasons, saying that the first prototype looked “too effeminate.”

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gr144 TIL the screenplay of the original Planet of the Apes (1968) was written by Rod Serling, the same guy who created The Twilight Zone, and the famous ending was his creation.
Vmxp TIL that rival ice cream truck drivers in Glasgow in the 80s sold drugs from their trucks, shot at each other, and committed arson in the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars
PYOMV TIL that in 1945, a US Army Air Force B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building. The crash severed an elevator's cables, causing it to plummet 75 stories. The elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived the elevator fall, and holds the record for the longest elevator fall survived.
YpKGx TIL Shakespeare's most published work in his lifetime was not any of his plays, but his poem Venus and Adonis, with ten editions of the poem published before he died. As much as 40% of Shakespeare's works published in his lifetime consisted of his poems alone.
Z8wXp TIL ‘Band of Brothers’ strived for historical accuracy to such an extent that multiple WWII veterans were flown in from all over the world to advise on the weaponry, battle tactics, and combat situations. As a final check, the veterans screened previews of each episode prior to their release.