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TIL: The inventor of the Lava Light, an accountant, originally didn't envision his product associating with groovy psychedelic hippie culture. An ad for them in the straight-laced American Bar Association Journal pitched an "executive" desk version mounted on a walnut base beside a ballpoint pen.

VMwJp TIL that people who believe Osama Bin Laden is still alive are more likely than most to believe Osama Bin Laden was already dead before the raid. Believing a conspiracy theory makes you more likely to believe other conspiracy theories, even if they are directly contradictory.
PY6aZ TIL in 1984 javelin thrower Uwe Hohn threw a distance of 104.8m and became the first and only athlete in history to break the 100m barrier. Shortly afterwards some changes in the design of javelins were implemented and the records had to be restarted, turning his mark into an "eternal world record".
Z81bQ TIL that in 1948, the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which outlines basic rights and freedoms universal to all humans. It has since become foundational in international law and is the most translated document, with copies available in 524 languages
ep7N5 TIL, for a scene in his movie Tenet, where a Boeing 747 plane crashes into (a fictional) Oslo Airport, they crashed an ACTUAL, REAL 747, because Christopher Nolan determined it would actually be cheaper than models or CGI.
RPaw TIL Jimmy Carter said if he became president, he would release all government UFO information to the public. Once elected, he decided not to due to “national security concerns.”