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TIL originally M&M's were supposed to be the candy in the movie E.T. but Mars rejected the idea; thus giving Reese's Pieces a spot in the movie, after which sales skyrocketed 300%

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8eQYb TIL the original script for Happy Feet framed it as a much darker PG-13 movie, with uses of "Shit", acknowledgement of penguins having high mortality rates from predation and starvation, anti-religion/tradition undertones, and an appearance of godlike alien penguins in the ending.
ZpGlQ TIL Tsukuba Syndrome, a phenomenon where researchers in Tsukuba Science City, a research hub northeast of Tokyo, committed suicide in the 1970s-80s. The suicide rate was more than twice that of the general population. In late 1985, three people from the same lab took their lives within a month.
vPXeB TIL of Helen, a Macaque monkey who was instrumental in the study of a condition in humans known as blindsight. Helen's primary visual cortex was removed, effectively blinding her. However, she blinked at motions that threatened her eyes and could navigate through environments as if she could see.
MePMb TIL Dan Aykroyd conceived of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man for his initial script for Ghostbusters the movie. He created the character to show that "it seems harmless and puffy and cute—but given the right circumstances, everything can be turned black and become evil.”
r1P4 TIL the first stage of Saturn V was fueled by kerosene, produced 215 million horsepower, and got 5 inches to the gallon