› added 5 years ago

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TIL the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were revealed as specimens of the popular turtle pet species Red-eared Slider, leading to people keeping them as pets in Great Britain and causing ecological damage due to deliberate/accidental release. The turtle is listed on the IUCN's top 100 invasive species.

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NXAjM TIL Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983) was first made as Smokey IS the Bandit, where Jackie Gleason played a dual role of both Sheriff Justice and a new Bandit character, effectively chasing himself. Confusion from test audiences made them reshoot the movie with Jerry Reed as the new Bandit.
kyNE TIL of Bill Morgan, a man who won a car in the lottery after being deemed clinically dead for over 14 minutes and in a coma for 12 days. Then, when a local news show asked to film a reenactment, he won $250,000 while the cameras rolled.
NXZwN TIL about Oppianicus, a Roman man who killed or ordered killed several of his relatives for power. He also killed his youngest sons because his fifth wife didn't want to be a stepmom. He tried to kill his stepson, who then prosecuted against him, resulting in Oppianicus's exile.
aQJM TIL Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge was named after George La Forge, a quadriplegic Trek fan who passed away in 1975.
Okl1 TIL when reporter Jerry Mitchell went to a screening of a movie about the murder of civil rights workers in the 60s, he wondered why the suspects weren’t tried for murder. He investigated the case and discovered evidence which helped convict one of the participants for murder in 2005.