› added 3 years ago

105

TIL In '72 Billy Joel got into a legal battle with his label and was forbidden from recording. He moved to LA and played at a bar under an assumed name to earn money. This was the inspiration for the song "Piano Man". All the characters in the song were based on real people Joel had met at the bar.

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9rOm TIL that in the US Army, there is a rank higher than the 5 Star General of the Army, called General of the ARMIES, and that only 2 people in history have ever held that rank.
WkVJd TIL that Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" is considered by some music historians to be the first "diss track" in history. The cannon battery at the climax was likely included to mock the French, referencing Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in 1812—when the Russian army used his own artillery against him.
R5rb4 TIL that Penguins, Chimpanzees and Capuchin monkeys practice prositution
XEGp6 TIL about Hans Schmidt, the only Catholic priest to ever be executed in the US. He killed his pregnant mistress, drank her blood, and dismembered her. He was found guilty for the crime and executed via electric chair in Feb 1916.
XPZD TIL veterinarians are four times as likely to commit suicide than the general public