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143

TIL of Thomas De Quincy, a 19th century opium addict whose memoir is responsible for the invention of 159 common words including earth-shattering, interconnection, incubator, entourage, subconscious and post-natal. He also popularised the term 'pipe dream'.

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Z8K0G TIL actor Anthony Hopkins had a habit of reading his lines aloud 250 TIMES before shooting a movie. He also memorized a new poem every week to “exercise his mind”
GAW75 TIL Canberra, Australia's capital city, had a variety of suggested names including Kangaremu
dAB7 TIL that there is a nonprofit organization called Kiva where you can lend $25 to people around the world, for example women entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries, to help them. You get the money back after a while, and the organization takes no cut.
XjeP TIL after being forced to resign as CEO, Steve Madden was kept by his former company as a consultant with a $700,000 salary which he received while in prison
16kjP TIL that some helicopters have various parts that are intentionally designed asymmetrically, to compensate for the tail rotor pushing the helicopter sideways when it’s hovering. They also have asymmetrical landing gear for the rotor to remain level when landed