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TIL during the US prohibition era, medicinal liquor was fraudulently exploited in many scams, one doctor cited for writing 475 prescriptions for whiskey in one day. Charles R. Walgreen, the founder of Walgreen's pharmacies expanded from 20 stores to a staggering 525 during the 1920s.

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m1Lvy TIL A parasite of the Greenland shark is Ommatokoita elongata. This copepod attaches itself to the eyes of the shark causing lesions which cause impaired vision and even blindness. Usually, only one eye is affected by a single copepod. Some believe that the copepod attracts prey for the shark.
M7raA TIL prior to joining the band Primus in 1989, guitarist Larry LaLonde was a member of the band Possessed, and was just 17 years old when Possessed’s landmark debut album, "Seven Churches," was released in 1985.
bdm4 TIL Kevin Spacey once directed and starred in a biopic - Beyond the Sea. Not only did he play crooner Bobby Darin, he chose to perform all of Darin’s songs himself.
xPXg TIL Joseph Stalin tried to have John Wayne assassinated.
WkaMd TIL that the largest island of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu was originally named "La Austrialia [sic] del Espíritu Santo" - after both the monarchy of Austria (ancestors of the Spanish monarchs) and the Great Southern Continent, Terra Australis (which Australia was later named for)