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TIL Mel Blanc, “man of 1000 voices” famous for most of the Looney Tunes characters, started smoking cigarettes at age 9. He was diagnosed with emphysema and quit at age 77.

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oLxW TIL Paraguay’s first dictator, José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, forbade colonial citizens from marrying one another and allowed them to marry only blacks, mulattoes or natives, in order to break the power of colonial-era elites and to create a mixed-race or mestizo society.
N7mrE TIL there is a psychological disorder called utilization behavior. People affected by it find it difficult to ignore anything in front of them - for example, if presented with a toothbrush, they'll brush their teeth, regardless of the situation. The disorder is also linked to hypersexuality.
Lrpm TIL In 1986, there were plans to put Big Bird on the space shuttle, to encourage kids to get interested in space. There wasn’t enough room for the puppet, and Caroll Spinney, who portrays the 8-foot-2 bird, was replaced by a teacher. It was for a seat on the ill-fated space shuttle Challenger.
nWBdr TIL paleontologist Xu Xing has named more new species of dinosaur than any other living person and is one of the most prolific paleontologists to ever live. He's described so many new species that he's actually lost track of how many; he estimates the number is somewhere around 80.
R5oX6 TIL that Brockton High School which has hall of fame boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler as alumni, recently requested the National Guard to step in because of the level of fistfights there.