› added 7 years ago

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TIL Adrien Brody, in order to star as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist, "withdrew for months, gave up his apartment and his car, broke up with his then-girlfriend, learned how to play Chopin on the piano, and lost 29" pounds, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor at 29 years old.

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P1EZg TIL Edmund Kemper helped a nonprofit called Volunteers of Vacaville in reading/recording books for blind people to listen to. He logged over 5000 hours between 1977-1987 but stopped in 2015 after a stroke.
6EL68 TIL a puppy of Soviet space dog Strelka, the first animal to safely return from orbit, was given to president Kennedy by Khrushchev. The puppy grew up and became the mate of JFK's dog Charlie. The cold war couple went on to have 4 pups themselves, dubbed the "Pupniks".
VBBdB TIL Koi fish, while superficially signifying "good luck," most strongly mean "perseverance in the face of adversity" because they swim against the current. In legend, they swam up a waterfall and turned into a golden dragon upon reaching the top.
1aYA7 TIL that Ken Jennings would have lost his first game on Jeopardy if not for a technicality allowing players to write only the last name of the correct response in Final Jeopardy. Jennings went on to win 74 games and over $2.5 million, eventually becoming the show's "Greatest of All Time" contestant.
x6EZg TIL "Hit The Lights," the debut track on Metallica's first album Kill 'Em All, was actually written for James Hetfield's previous band 'Leather Charm' with his friend and guitarist, Hugh Tanner.