› added 5 years ago

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TIL of Mikhail Bulgakov, a Russian writer whose works were banned in 1929. In desperation, he wrote a letter to Stalin and asked to emigrate. To his surprise, Stalin telephoned him personally. Bulgakov said he didn't want to leave and asked to work at the theater. Stalin permitted his request.

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4XRNN TIL Universal Studios, United Artists, and Disney rejected to get involved with "Star Wars" due to budget concerns or believing it wouldn't succeed due to being too strange. Only 20th Century Fox agreed because they wanted to form relations with George Lucas after his success of "American Graffiti".
69Eg7 TIL that Ivy League is an athletic conference and has nothing to do with academics, although all the schools are considered elite
4G1o TIL during the civil war the man who chose the location for the Arlington Cemetery, Montgomery Meigs, a southerner who hated the confederacy, chose Arlington, Robert E. Lees family estate to remind him of the men he had killed, including Meigs’s son who was buried feet from Mrs. Lees rose garden.
W7vaA TIL The streets of Iqaluit, Nunavut didn't have names until the Queen paid an official visit in 2002 when the city renamed the Ring Road to Queen Elizabeth II Way. She also wondered if Iqaluit streets ran in a north-south, east-west grid pattern, as they do in some European cities
kJwxE TIL: "Star Jelly" - The mysterious translucent substance (aka astromyxin) discovered after meteor showers. It's believed to be a gel-like residue formed from meteor disintegration.