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TIL in 1970 Billy Joel attempted suicide by drinking nail polish and wrote a suicide note about how he was feeling. He survived, and used the note as the lyrics for his famous song “Tomorrow is Today”, and wrote “You’re Only Human” to help people with depression who are contemplating suicide.

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via reddit.com

awk60 TIL that Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture in his country. He was murdered by unidentified gunmen while celebrating Mass. He was later declared a saint by Pope Francis.
mEwv TIL:GM knew alcohol was the best anti-knock additive for gasoline before the invention of lead additives. They purposely used a poison instead, because alcohol was cheap and could not be patented.
BgKPK TIL due to her commitment to Scientology, actress Kirstie Alley decided not to reprise her role as Rebecca Howe on any episode of the Cheers spinoff Frasier, because the series was centered on the field of medical psychiatry.
vvmL TIL that the Sons of Liberty melted a statue of King George in July 1776, using the lead to create over 42,000 bullets that would later be used against the British.
RnLa TIL the Boy Scouts of America helped child molesters cover their tracks and kept records in documents known internally as “The Perversion Files”.