› added 10 years ago

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TIL Jiminy Cricket was initially drawn as a realistic cricket, but Disney wanted something more likable, so the supervising animator came up with what he described as a “little man with an egg head and no ears”, saying “the only thing that makes him a cricket is because we call him one.”

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J1XNv TIL: Professional mourners was an occupation that started in Ancient Egypt where people get paid to make ostentatious displays of grief at a funeral. It was mostly women as men were deemed unfit for the job. In modern times, some countries still have professional mourners you can hire for funerals.
kJlr5 TIL the "stuntman" in the James Bond 'Live and Let Die' crocodile jump scene was actually the owner of the farm. He did it in 5 takes.
p8wJ4 TIL One of the greatest boxers of all time was a man of 5'7 in height called Sam Langford who other greats like Jack Dempsey refused to fight because of his power. He fought until aged 43, at that point he was almost completely blind.
5VPo9 TIL that there's a supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center of our galaxy.
1vyO T.I.L. That mafia boss Joe Columbo had the final say of what would be shot for the Godfather movie. He met his death when he was gunned down by an African-American triggerman named Jerome Johnson, at the same time the final scene was being filmed a few blocks away.