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TIL Christopher Nolan originally wrote a full script with Heath Ledger's Joker playing a prominent role in 'The Dark Knight Rises', but scrapped and re-wrote the entire script after Ledger passed away.

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QJyx6 TIL the dodo bird was not unintelligent but simply evolved docile behavior in response to a lack of predator on its native island of Mauritius. Humans took advantage of this behavior, haunted it to extinction, and then made it a universally recognized symbol of unintelligence.
JYwGQ TIL of the killing of Joey Stompanato who was a bodyguard and mafia enforcer for Mickey Cohen. He dated actress Lana Turner who he physically abused. On April 4th, 1958 after threatening the life of Turner, her mother, and daughter he was stabbed to death by Turner's 14 year old daughter.
W755d TIL that book selling dates back to ancient Greece and Rome—Athens had booksellers by 300 BC, and by the 1st century CE, Roman bookshops (tabernae librarii) were present near the Forum, in areas like the Argiletum and Vicus Sandalarius. A list of books for sale was posted on the door or side posts.
DWPe TIL that there is a fictional island in the South Atlantic, off the west coast of Africa, at lat/long 0,0, called ‘Null Island’. Although it doesn’t exist in reality, it serves as an error trap for map systems. Map enthusiasts have given the island its own history, geography and even flag.
4XvEo TIL that Dexter Holland, lead singer of Offspring, was valedictorian of his school and had a masters in molecular biology before the band became famous. He since earned his PhD and published a paper on the use of computational molecular biological approaches to identify microRNA sequences in HIV