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TIL policeman Bob Geary used a dummy as his partner. A new police chief disallowed its usage, so Geary worked to put the usage of the dummy on the ballot. The referendum passed and Geary used the dummy until his retirement 7 years later, at which time the mayor declared the day "Officer Geary Day."

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BGor TIL American Airlines went against manufacturer recommendations and used their own maintenance procedure to save 200 man hours of labor per aircraft. This resulted in one engine of AA Flight 191 separating from the wing on takeoff and the deaths of 273 people.
w19J TIL that George Lucas wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie but could not obtain the rights so instead he created Star Wars
kOD5W TIL that the word "Pompatus" used by Steve Miller in "The Joker" was made up by him
Lg7V TIL Quentin Tarantino set out to film Reservoir Dogs with a $30,000 budget and a 16mm camera. Tarantino received a message from Harvey Keitel who wanted to help produce and star in the film. Keitel helped raise the budget to $1.5 million.
wj11 TIL that until 1953, NYC had a pneumatic tube mail network that spanned 27 miles and connected 23 post offices. At its peak, the system moved 95,000 letters a day.