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TIL that the “Star Spangled Banner,” the United States’ National Anthem, uses the exact melody of an old English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven” which was popular among Americans in 1812

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Qw1e TIL by 1932, Mickey Mouse had lost his edge since becoming a role model for children. Disney wanted to create a character to portray more negative character traits, which could no longer be bestowed on Mickey. That’s when Disney started working on a short-tempered character named Donald Duck.
8xQb TIL that Malcom X had a Scottish grandmother and the reddish hair he inherited from her inspired the nickname “Detroit Red.”
gMWkA TIL that 12,000 bears are farmed for their bile in Asia which is used in traditional Chinese medicine and generates $2bn per year. Farming always involves surgery on the bears to insert a catheter or to cut a hole through the abdomen by which the bile leaks. Bear bile has no medicinal effect.
ne5Jd TIL Japanese writer Kōbō Abe wrote surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society. His experiences in Manchuria deeply influenced his writing, imprinting terrors and fever dreams that became surrealist hallmarks of his works
EAxd TIL that the 1995 Bjork song “It’s Oh So Quiet” is a remake of an obscure B-side from 1951 — which itself was a remake of a French song from 1949 (“Tout est Tranquille”) — which itself was a remake of the original German song, “Und Jetzt ist es Still” from 1948. It’s a cover of a cover of a cover.