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TIL Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Coppola) changed his last name at the beginning of his career in order to avoid any favoritism he might receive as the nephew of the legendary director Francis Ford Coppola (directed “The Godfather”, “The Godfather II”, “Apocalypse Now”, among other movies).

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VMOk4 TIL Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah has garnered acclaim as one of the greatest contemporary writers in the world. Farah was warned that the Somali government planned to arrest him, so he began a self-imposed exile that would last for 22 years
R7Bba TIL The DC villain called "Snowflame" gained his superpowers by doing lots of cocaine.
e0BPD TIL the Jal Mahal (literally "water palace") is a palace in the middle of a lake in India, and 4 of its stories are under the lake.
D1Omr TIL In 1990, Rick James sued MC Hammer for copyright when Hammer sampled his song “Super Freak” in Hammer’s hit “Can’t Touch This” without permission. They agreed to settle out of court and Hammer credited James as a co-composer, James won his first and only Grammy from “Can’t Touch This”.
1aNrW TIL that in 2017 an Ecuadorian adventurer ran a half marathon 2.5 miles underground. At that depth the air is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity, air pressure 1.4 times normal. He passed out after 15 minutes during his first training session in similar conditions on the surface.