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TIL that famous stunt performer and daredevil Evel Knievel was about to die because he couldn't get a life-saving liver transplant. When he was literally going to die in his house he got a phonecall. There was a liver available from a young guy who just passed away... in a motorcycle accident.

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dDjD7 TIL Cary Grant turned down The Bridge on the River Kwai just to work with Marlon Brando in The Pride and the Passion. But Brando, calling the script “mediocre at best,” bailed. Grant filmed it with Sinatra instead, and it flopped, while The Bridge on the River Kwai became an Oscar-winning classic.
KYBQG TIL that 2MASS J18082002−5104378 is the oldest star we know of at 13.5 billion years old. It is one generation of stars removed from the Big Bang, and has a companion star that is just as old!
yVKaa TIL Lake Hillier, an Australian lake is 10 times saltier than the ocean, and bright bubblegum pink. The notable color comes from algae, halobacteria, and other microbes that are able to thrive under the harshest of conditions. The lake contains almost 500 extremophiles!
6VoJ TIL that Carlos Hathcock, USMC in Vietnam, crawled inch by inch, 1500 yards for 72hours straight to assassinate an NVA General, narrowly escaping being bitten by a viper, and almost being stepped on by a NVA soldier. He successfully completed the mission, and escaped the same way he had entered.
pDoA TIL Israel Kamakawiwo'ole recorded his version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow at a spur of the moment 3 am recording session, in just one take.