› added 4 years ago

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TIL in 1987, production on the film Apt Pupil began with 17-year-old Rick Schroder cast as the lead. After ten weeks of filming, production suffered from lack of funds and was put on hold. A year later, Schroder had aged too much for the film to work and 40 minutes of usable footage was abandoned.

x6BN1 TIL about the Italian standard LMG during WW2, designed for alpine climate but used in deserts, it had a violent recoil, clips only held 20 rounds, they had to be oiled before they were inserted, it frequently overheated and exploded, and had a rate of fire comparable to a semi-automatic rifle.
ZpAQR TIL Researchers are unsure why some people develop excess keratin on the skin, causing a condition with bumpy skin. In 92% of cases it is on upper arms and it is medically harmless but cosmetically displeasing
G6wN TIL in 2013 the Saudi King Abdullah ordered Khalid Bin Mohsen Shaari, the heaviest person on the planet with a BMI of 204, to be hospitalized for weight reduction. Six months later, he had lost half his weight (320kg).
XAEr TIL that the Germans have a word for a device that does everything: “Eierlegende Wollmilchsau” - It literally means “Egg laying wool milk pig”.
4X5bN TIL that many schools in the US still use the "cueing" method to teach students how to read, despite research showing that it's not effective. Cueing strategies include looking at the picture for context and trying to guess what word might make sense when you come to an unknown word.