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TIL that Jason Statham competed in diving at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand

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9eXr TIL that President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
wop4W TIL scientists recovered DNA from the extinct miniature elephant on Sicily. Two different species of miniature elephants evolved separately on the same island. The smallest one was a meter tall and weighed about 300 kgs. The other was about 2 meters and 1,000 kgs.
KOP6a TIL: "Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex is based on a classic American folk song with a history dating back to before the American Civil War. The earliest known recordings are from the 1920s and it's been recorded numerous times since then, including a beautiful version by Nina Simone (link in the comments)
BrXeb TIL the first Paddington Bear stuffed toy to be manufactured was created in 1972 by Gabrielle Designs, a small business run by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson, with the prototype made as a Christmas present for their children Joanna and Jeremy Clarkson (later known as a British TV presenter and writer).
9YlpG TIL that in 2006, CNN mistakenly used an image of the Balrog from a 1977 Lord of the Rings calendar to represent Satan. Stephen Colbert recognized the image because he had that calendar and mocked CNN for the mistake.