› added 6 years ago

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TIL that Winston Groom, the author of "Forrest Gump" the source for the titular movie, was contracted to earn 3% share of the profits. The film made about $678 million on the budget of $55 million, but Paramount did not pay Groom, using Hollywood accounting to posit that the film indeed lost money.

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Apj4 TIL one of the fastest speeds ever achieved on the German Autobahn was 432kph (268mph) in a Mercedes-Benz W125, in the year 1938.
nQVW TIL the Aztecs called armadillos āyōtōchtli, meaning “turtle-rabbits”
X0V4E TIL the largest unfinished church in the world, the Sagrada Família, began construction in 1886. It is expected to be completed in 2026, nearly 150 years after it began construction.
Me0k7 TIL of the greenheart tree, whose wood is so strong it cannot be worked on with regular tools
6EX8Y TIL that the Allies detained Germany's nuclear scientists in an English farm estate after the war. Their conversations were secretly recorded, giving us clues about their opinions on the war and on nuclear weapons.