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TIL French cyclist Jean Robic would cheat in the Tour De France downhill sections by having an assistant give him a lead or mercury filled water bottle for the descent. Because of this his nickname was "The Heavy Metal Descender".

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VKxZ TIL Jim Henson came up with the 25 page story line for “The Dark Crystal” while snowed in at an airport hotel. He also believed it was unhealthy for children to never be afraid.
JbEk TIL That Conan O'Brien pranked Bill Cosby when he was 19. He wanted to meet Cosby, so he created a fake award for Cosby to accept.
b6pKZ TIL the earliest recording of the word "F*ck" was made in the year 1885, of a technician at Volta laboratories reacting to a mechanical failure
dD7j7 TIL that the native language of the volcanic island Manam Motu has no words for cardinal directions (North, East, West, South). Instead, it uses polar coördinates—with words meaning “towards the volcano”, ”towards the sea”, “clockwise around the volcano”, and “counterclockwise around the volcano”.
ljoa TIL “thirty-nine places of pi suffice for computing the circumference of a circle girdling the known universe with an error no greater than the radius of a hydrogen atom.”