› added 1 year ago

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TIL that author J.K. Rowling often relied on the fan-made Harry Potter Lexicon while writing the 'Harry Potter' books: "I have been known to sneak into an Internet café while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of 'Harry Potter', which is embarrassing."

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eabn TIL the last cipher from the Zodiac Killer, a 340 character code sent to newspapers in 1969, remains unsolved.
MWKa TIL An explorer once found a compound, calanolide A, in certain trees in the Malaysian rainforest. Researchers found out that it has anti-HIV properties, but they couldn’t find another sample for nine years as almost all the tree of that species had been cut down for firewood and building material.
V6OQ TIL While hacking a Fortune 500 company, 16 year old Sean Parker was unable to log out after his father unplugged and confiscated his keyboard. Because his IP address was exposed, F.B.I. agents tracked him down and arrested him
OoaM6 TIL due to the octopus's intelligence, they and all other cephalopods are the only invertebrates that need to be anesthesised before surgery.
Mr8A TIL that the 1977 University of Evansville Men’s Basketball Team was killed in a plane crash. One player didn’t make the trip due to an illness. He was killed in a car wreck 2 weeks later.