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TIL that Aretha Franklin insisted on being paid for gigs up front and in cash, and would often keep the cash on stage with her in her handbag

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oR7EK TIL the median wage for all NFL players is roughly $860,000, which it has to be said is far below the $2 million mark that is commonly referenced. A rising first-year rookie has a minimum pay of $435,000. The most publicly exposed are the stunningly high earnings of top quarterbacks, like Tom Brady.
6V9l TIL Nick Cave wrote a script for a Gladiator sequel in which Maximus fights Roman gods in the afterlife, is reincarnated, defends early Christians, and ultimately lives forever. Eventually leading tanks in the second world war and even working in the modern-day Pentagon.
oWWo TIL the first recorded flight of a human with artificial wings happened in the year 6 CE. Emperor Kao Yang liked to strap kites to his prisoners and throw them off of towers. One lucky guy, Yuan Huang T'ou, got a kite that worked well enough to carry him safely to the ground.
kJgjE TIL the McRib is made from bits of pig shoulder which are reconstituted with a binding agent into a larger product. Meat restructuring was developed by the US Army to deliver low-cost meat to troops, and McDonald's took the process as the government doesn't patent their intellectual property.
vPVEB TIL The MPAA created the PG-13 rating after Steven Spielberg suggested a rating between PG and R due to complaints about Gremlins and Temple of Doom.