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TIL the WB’s Superstar USA, an American Idol-style show, tricked contestants into thinking it sought the best singers but truly aimed to find the worst. To keep the crowd composed, producers falsely claimed contestants were terminally ill fulfilling a wish through a charitable organization.

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j6RMn TIL: Woden was an Anglo-Saxon god from which our day of the week Wednesday is named after. Woden had a career in curing horses and carrying off the dead, and Wednesday is his day (Woden’s day). Various spellings—wodnesdaeg, Weodnesdei, Wenysday, wonysday, Weddinsday have been used
6EQXm TIL of the Skylab Mutiny: in 1973 the crew of the skylab space station turned off all communications with NASA after being over-worked and spent the day relaxing and looking at the Earth. It is the only strike to occur in space.
yZXJ TIL the same voice actor portrayed Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget, Mr. Wilson and Ruff in Dennis the Menace, Egon Spengler, Destro, Pepe Le Pew in Space Jam, The Brain, Salem in Sabrina, the Narrator in Johnny Bravo, Master Fung in Xiaolin Showdown, Morbo + Kif in Futurama, and the King in Frozen.
69QM8 TIL the deacon Saint Lawrence was roasted alive on a giant grill during the persecution of Valerian. The poet Prudentius tells that he joked with his tormentors, "Turn me over—I'm done on this side". He is now the patron saint of cooks, chefs, and comedians.
DPLg TIL in 1938 Mexico was the only country to protest against the German annexation of Austria.