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TIL Orson Welles stabbed Joseph Holland on stage during a production of Caesar (1938). Welles played Brutus with a real knife, which reflected the stage lights more dramatically than a prop

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oBrnA TIL actress Jodie Foster began talking at 9 months, taught herself to read at age 3, landed her first gig as the Coppertone Girl in a commercial at age 3, got an Oscar nomination at age 12, attended Yale, and has an ancestor that came over on The Mayflower.
W7kB TIL Carl Sagan recorded a message for those who would make it to Mars. “Whatever the reason you’re on Mars is, I’m glad you’re there. And I wish I was with you.”
p8Ym8 Imagine you spent your entire childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood stuck inside a small closet. One day, after much of your life, has passed you by, you realize that you can just open up the door, change into some more appropriate clothes, and hit the town! Free at last, what would you do first? Maybe sing a bit? Go on a few dates? By the way, you have two to four weeks to live. Yikes. This is not unlike the situation most cicadas face, as they spend almost their entire lives underground. For example, many of the cicadas emerging in 2016 have been underground for 17 years! To put that in perspective, the last Star Wars movie these insects saw was literally a menace. Imagine waking up in a world without Smash Mouth and Sugar Ray! Come to think of it, things are really looking up since 1999. A cicada’s ear-piercing call is intended to attract a gal pal. Considering that these little creatures’ time above ground is so fleeting, they need to lock down a date as soon as possible. This could be why most cicadas are louder than the average fraternity pledge. Adult males are the ones making such a racket, and some species can register sounds louder 100 decibels when calling for a potential mate. In this week’s Today I Learned, National Geographic Emerging Explorer and filmmaker Sandesh Kadur explains how cicadas sing such a loud song.
dDYbr TIL Adolf Hitler was sent by the German armed forces to infiltrate the German Worker's Party led by Anton Drexler. The party was the precursor to the Nazi party that would be led by Hitler.
8lxP TIL that Orthodox Jews say a prayer after defecation thanking god for having an Anus and for the ability to use it.