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TIL Blind Willie Johnson was a blues guitarist who was blinded as a boy, abused by his father, and died penniless from disease after sleeping bundled in wet newspaper in a burnt down house. Carl Sagan preserved his legacy by selecting one of his songs for the Voyager Golden Record in 1977.

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GALKE TIL that in 1929, Charles Lawson took his family Christmas shopping and had a photo taken just days before he murdered his wife and six of his children on Christmas Day, then killed himself. Only his eldest son, Arthur, survived as he was sent on an errand before the tragedy.
NX86P TIL Bing Crosby was at the heart of introducing recordable master tape, revolutionizing radio, studio recording, & later TV/video production. In 1947, he funded the first commercial tape recorder with $50k, leading to the first radio show recorded on magnetic tape and changing broadcasting forever.
7re5O TIL Emily Canellos-Simms held the world´s largest fine for an overdue library book at $345.14 which was checked out in 1955. The book was Days and Deeds. The library charged her 2 cents a day. She found the book 47 years later and presented the library with a check for her fine
Pk1V TIL the hip-hop artist MF Grimm was expelled from his high school for assauting the school dean… because the dean owed him drug money.
erKE TIL at 52, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman married 18-year-old Mandy Smith but divorced after a year. Bill’s 30-year-old son then Stephen married Mandy’s mother, age 46. If Bill and Mandy had remained married, Stephen would have been his father’s father-in-law and his own grandpa.