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TIL that Cindy Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is a cover of a 1979 song by Robert Hazard.

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neGOr TIL that in 1885, James Whitcomb Riley wrote and published a poem called "Little Orphant Allie", based on a little girl he had met named Alice (nicknamed Allie). Due to a typo in the published version, her name was misspelled as Little Orphan Annie, and this name became a much more famous character.
PYZdg TIL that after an intense 8 artillery week barrage, British troops on the first day of the Battle of the Somme were so sure of their victory that 4 platoons had a competition to see who could kick a soccer ball into the German trenches first. Nearly 20,000 British men were killed that day
VMKD TIL that in Islamic Art, prophets look like they are on fire - flames are used instead of the ring halos in Western art.
E9no TIL R. Norris Williams survived the Titanic sinking but spent so much time submerged in the icy Atlantic that doctors wanted to amputate his legs on rescue ship Carpathia. He refused the amputation ,recovered and went on to win the U.S. Tennis Championship that very same year
X0ad8 TIL multiple studies have indicated 3rd-cousin relationships to be the “genetic sweet spot” for maximum human offspring fitness. Richard Dawkins has even discussed the concept in his literary works