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TIL Singer Tom Waits successfully sued the LAPD. He was wrongfully arrested for disturbing the peace when, outside a coffee shop, he intervened a group of men who were bullying other patrons. The bullies were plainclothes officers.

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bMXE TIL in 1992, a team of game developers used a white puffball as a placeholder graphic while they designed their game’s protagonist. They grew fond of the puffball, and decided to keep him rather than replace him with a real character. He became the iconic character Kirby.
P1O1J TIL The first speeding ticket in history was issued to a person caught speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), four times the speed limit of 2 mph (3 km/h). In 1896, Mr. Arnold was pursued for 5 miles by a policeman on a bicycle
Ly80 TIL: The common spiral depiction of the Milky Way Galaxy used in media is actually another galaxy:Messier 74. Because we dwell within the Milky Way Galaxy, it is impossible for us to take a picture of its spiral structure from the outside.
nWDRG TIL Nixon sabotaged Vietnam peace talks to get elected, causing the war to continue for 5 additional years. President Lyndon B Johnson chose not to go public with this to avoid dividing the country
9wya7 TIL that the large, flat grill that's featured in many Japanese restaurants is called a "teppan", not a "hibachi" according to popular belief. The cuisine prepared thereupon is referred to as "teppanyaki".