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TIL that it took E. B. White 17 takes to read the death scene of Charlotte, as he recorded the audio version of his book Charlotte's Web. He is said to have walked outside, come back in, and start crying again when he got to that moment, "a grown man crying over the death of an imaginary insect."

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yVOjp TIL that Stevie Wonder not only composed, sang, wrote the lyrics and played keyboards on his song "Superstition," he also played the bass part on a bass synthesizer and played the iconic drum part drum too after being inspired by guitarist Jeff Beck. The only part he didn't play were the horns
yQ5wV TIL of Jesse Sharp, who died going over Niagra Falls in a kayak, confident enough that he had dinner reservations booked that evening. He refused to wear both a helmet and a life jacket.
j6jVX TIL: Roman Emperor Valentinian the Great was one of the most popular emperors due to repelling several invaders, strengthening the borders, and handled the Great Conspiracy in Roman Britain. Unfortunately he died from a stroke while angrily yelling at envoys. Scholars say he got so mad, he died.
LkZbm TIL in the year 1200, all of France was placed under Interdict - a punishment from the Catholic Church banning rites like communion, marriages, communion, etc. - because King Phillip II took a second wife while still legally married to (and imprisoning) Ingeborg of Denmark.
GAK1g TIL that Aladdin is actually originally a Chinese fairy tale. In it, Aladdin actually has a father, but Aladdin is so lazy that the father dies of disappointment. The mother is still alive and spends the rest of the story trying to help her son get married