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TIL Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first published as a giveaway for the department store Montgomery Ward in 1939. The story was initially rejected because, in 1930s pop culture, a bright red nose was closely associated with chronic alcoholism and drunkards.

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woKKJ TIL that in the 1980s musical "Chess", the American's fortunes change depending on which version is being played; in the West End version, he quits the match and loses his World Championship, while in the Broadway version, he discovers a tactical edge and gains it.
6pEm TIL in 1990, a 15 year old girl testified before Congress, describing how Iraqi soldiers killed babies in a Kuwaiti hospital. This helped stir US favor for the Gulf War. The girl was later found to be the daughter of a Kuwaiti ambassador, and her story fabricated by American PR firm Hill & Knowlton
x6yPB TIL that in 1973, two brothers, an 18-year-old and a 10-year-old stayed in Tom Sawyer's River at Disneyland past closing time. When they tried to swim to leave, the older brother carried his younger brother, who didn't know how to swim, on his back and drowned. The younger survived.
OoJxR TIL Because she supported the Civil Rights movement, the FBI created a fake story that actress Jean Seberg had cheated on her husband with a black man, the stress of the fake story caused her to go into labor premature and resulted in the death of her baby.
X0Ge6 TIL That the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is not connected to a sewer system and as such has trucks manually remove human excrement from it daily.