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TIL That Pres. Bush was almost assassinated in 2005 after Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live RGD-5 hand grenade wrapped in a handkerchief at him. Miraculously it failed to detonate because the handkerchief remained around the grenade preventing the striker lever from releasing

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EJ0w TIL Jimmy Wales founded a porn site in order to acquire the initial funding to create Wikipedia.
A9dg TIL James Randi said that after he is gone he does not want his fans to bother with a museum of magic named after him or burying him in a fancy tomb. Instead, he said, “I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes blown in Uri Geller’s eyes.”
nBLB TIL During the 1996 Vendee Globe, a solo round the world boat race, Pete Goss gave up his chance of winning and despite being 1400 miles from land turned 160 miles back into a storm in order to save the life of another competitor.
Yp9NP TIL Architect Lebbeus Woods filed a lawsuit against Universal in February 1996, claiming that his work "Neomechanical Tower (Upper) Chamber" was used without permission in the film 12 Monkeys. He ultimately allowed their inclusion in exchange for a "high six-figure cash settlement" from Universal.
Wkjvo TIL the Swiss Federal Railways’ centralised lost and found service is still seeking the owner of a packet of gold bars worth CHF182k (since Oct '19). The most valuable misplaced object on their trains, however, remains a 1727 Stradivarius violin in 2012, estimated to be worth CHF2.6 million.