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TIL that in 1973 the Who’s drummer Keith Moon passed out mid-show. The band continued without him for several songs before Townshend asked, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good?" 19 year old Scot Halpin, who had bought scalped tickets came up and played the rest of the show.

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6EZ7X TIL The cliché "It was a dark and stormy night" originally opened a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, about a highwayman sentenced to death by a judge who turns out to be his father. Bulwer-Lytton infamously convinced Dickens to change "Great Expectations" to give it a more conventional "happy" ending.
N7rd1 TIL a journalist who reported on his own serial murders was caught when he including facts in his articles that only the killer would have known.
4XrOw TIL the longest papal election took 3 years (1268-1271), saw three electors die and one resign, and led to the creation of papal conclave rules which were designed to speed up elections.
KOAxG TIL that Crested Black Macaque's are the most affectionate monkeys in the world, due to living in a forest full of food where they all want for nothing. They love to hug, blow kisses, share, and make friends.
GYZEQ TIL of the Powell Memorandum. A confidential memorandum entitled "The Attack on the American Free Enterprise System". It kickstarted a concerted effort to shift US opinion to the right and started a massive PR campaign to persuade Americans that the 'left' was bad for the average American.