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TIL: scientists discovered that Bowhead whales live past 200 years when they found fragments of a 200 year harpoon lodged in a living one

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wkNM TIL that a movie director faced life in prison because his movie looked so realistic people thought the actors were actually filmed while being murdered. That is until they showed up in court. The film remains banned and/or heavily edited in several countries to this day.
R7yNw TIL that Agatha Christie wrote the final Hercule Poirot book "Curtain" in the 1940s, fearing she might die during the blitz and leave the book series without a proper ending. She kept writing more books after that, and once she decided she was done "Curtain" was finally published in 1975.
xVYAg Today I learned that Tom Petty did not usually allow his music to be played on television, but he let The Simpsons use his song "The Waiting" in the episode "The Cartridge Family" because he was a fan of the show.
M7g80 TIL that author J.K. Rowling often relied on the fan-made Harry Potter Lexicon while writing the 'Harry Potter' books: "I have been known to sneak into an Internet café while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of 'Harry Potter', which is embarrassing."
ne17B TIL that when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, Pompeii had a neighbor city called Herculaneum which suffered the same fate as Pompeii.