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TIL the accent that most actors had in films from the 30's and 40's (i.e. Jimmy Stewart from It's a Wonderful Life) was known as "Transatlantic" and nobody ever actually spoke that way.

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p8d7G TIL Charles Vance Millar, a rich Canadian financier, made his will one giant practical joke. In it, he left three men who hated one another a join lifetime tenancy in a villa, some protestant ministers $700,000 in Catholic beer stock, and anti-horse racing advocates $25,000 in a Jockey club.
Oodd7 TIL Robert-François Damiens, after trying to assassinate the king, was sentenced to be executed by having his skin ripped with pliers, molten lead and sulfur being poured onto his ripped skin, then dismemberment by four horses. At hearing this, Damiens replied: “Well, it's going to be a tough day.”
OojAg Today I learned that the family name of Monty Python veteran, John Cleese, was actually Cheese, which his father felt was embarrassing, and changed it to Cleese when he enlisted during WWI. He later made it official by a deed poll in 1923.
GBvE TIL movie previews were originally shown at the end of a film, trailing the main feature. This is why movie previews are called “trailers.”
wLAmY TIL there are several philosophical razors--not just Occam's Razor (simpler explanations are likely correct). One is called Newton's Flaming Laser Sword because it is, "Much sharper and more dangerous than Occam's Razor." It states that what cannot be settled by experiment ought not be debated.