› added 10 years ago

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TIL that the Queen of Denmark illustrated the artwork for the Danish edition of The Lord of the Rings

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Z8BeG TIL that in 2019, the CDC warned Americans not to kiss or snuggle their pet hedgehogs, after 11 people contracted a rare strain of salmonella. 10 of these 11 people were in close contact with hedgehogs before becoming ill.
vMo8 TIL The creator of Cowboy Bebop was told to make a show to sell spaceship toys, with the instructions, “So long as there’s a spaceship in it, you can do whatever you want.”
kO7dW TIL when Tay Zonday made the "Chocolate Rain" video, he was doing PhD studies at the University of Minnesota in theater history & social change. He said: "I wrote 'Chocolate Rain' as a serious social commentary, but people re-sang the song with their own lyrics, often for the sake of comedy."
Z89XQ TIL the origin of "steal someone's thunder" is almost literal. In old plays, people had different methods of making a loud thunder sound. Playwright John Dennis invented a method, but then heard it used in someone else's play. He complained, "They stole my thunder!"
RpD6 TIL China returns all illegal immigrants from North Korea which usually imprisons them in a short term facility. Women who are suspected of being impregnated by Chinese fathers are subjected to forced abortions; babies born alive are killed, sometimes by exposure or being buried alive.