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TIL that on one occasion, J.S. Bach was in Dresden at the same time as a French organist named Louis Marchand. There was to be a competition between the two men to see who was better at improvisation. Marchand heard Bach practicing the day before the competition and left town.

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VV8k TIL that due to a popular anime cartoon, thousands of raccoons were imported from North America for Japanese children to keep as pets. When the cartoon’s protagonist later released his raccoon into the wild on the show, many of the pet owners did the same, creating chaos in the ecosystem to this day
jNVdX TIL the title of the movie 'October Sky' is an anagram of 'Rocket Boys', the title of the 1998 book upon which the movie is based. Universal Studios marketing people had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys.
ZpZWB TIL: In Sept. 1987, Eric Garcia commited suicide by exploding several hundred pounds of black powder and aerial shells at the Celebrity Fireworks Co in Rialto, CA. The explosion leveled the plant along with the neighboring businesses and blew out windows 4 miles away.
xV8lD TIL Jimmy Carter's family were all farmers for 350 years and no member of his father’s family had ever finished high school. Carter's childhood dream was "to go to the Naval Academy, get a college education, and serve in the U.S. Navy"
ea84 TIL In a housing experiment that moved families from poor neighborhoods to wealthier ones, boys experienced PTSD rates comparable to those of combat soldiers, while psychological well-being improved for girls.