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TIL invention of the modern American football helmet is credited to US Naval Academy football player (and later Admiral) Joseph M. Reeves, who had a shoemaker create one for him after a Navy doctor told him another kick to his head could result in instant insanity or death.

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gDLb TIL Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in the Lord of The Rings trilogy. He was offered 15% of worldwide box-office receipts, totaling close to $400 million. He turned it down due to “not understanding the script”.
9wPNG TIL Joseph Christmas, the first white American to explore the Grand Canyon, thought it worthless to visitors, writing, "The region is valueless. After entering there is nothing to do but leave. Ours has been the first and will doubtless be the last party of whites to visit this profitless locality."
epe5k TIL from 2018 to 2021, the number of Americans hiking ballooned from around 48 million to 59 million
dKrE TIL that the English Dennis the Menace and the American Dennis the Menace were developed completely independently of each other and were coincidentally published on the same day on opposite sides of the Atlantic on 12 March 1951
AD7n TIL today is National Cheese Pizza Day