› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the French duo Daft Punk got their name from a negative review they received from MelodyMaker magazine for a trio they were in before. A journalist wrote that the band Darlin's music was "a daft punky thrash". They found it funny, creating one of the most influential music acts of 90s & 00s

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Egrod TIL that Mick Jagger's first TV appearance had nothing to do with music but was showing him in an educational spot about mountain climbing, together with his father who was a physical education teacher (and helped popularise basketball in Britain).
6EM07 TIL almost all life on earth was destroyed around 2.4 billion years ago in the Oxygen Catastrophe (aka Great Oxidation Event). Photosynthesizing microorganisms pumped massive amounts of oxygen into the previously oxygen-poor atmosphere, making it oxygen rich. Most species perished, new ones arose.
PlRw TIL that Portugal decriminalized all drugs - not just pot, 12 years ago. Drug use has dropped by over 70%, and today many view drug users in the community more favorably then cigarette smokers.
ANZyg TIL that the actor who portrayed the little boy in The Ring is now an attorney for the U.S. House of Representatives. He is the Legislative Director & General Counsel to the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Vice Chair and Homeland Security Committee’s Cybersecurity Subcommittee Emeritus Chair.
m1VKR TIL William Thornton, a doctor and the architect who designed the US Capitol Building, was summoned to George Washington's home to treat his illness, arriving after his death. Thornton devised a plan to resurrect his corpse by inflating air into his lungs and transfusing lamb's blood into his body.