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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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epVM6 TIL Speed Racer was based off the 1964 Elvis movie "Viva Las Vegas". Tatsuo Yoshida, the creator of Mach GoGoGo, stated that the film was the primary inspiration, as well as James Bond films of that time period.
QmBp TIL that Charlie Sheen took steroids in preparation for his role as Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in Major League. He said the steroids improved his fastball from 79mph to 85mph after only using it for 6-8 weeks.
neQO7 TIL sometimes Spitfires had to taxi to the take-off position with a person sat on the tail. In 1945 a pilot forgot about this and took-off with mechanic Margaret Horton clinging on the tail. The pilot realized that his aircraft wasn't handling correctly and landed with Miss Horton still on the tail
lokw5 TIL that a large number of PlayStations are being assembled and packaged in an almost fully automated factory in Japan rather than by cheap labor in China. One PlayStation can be assembled every thirty seconds in a factory with only four people.
mLZP TIL Samuel Johnson wrote a dictionary in 1755, in which he defined oats as: “A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” A Scottish man was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted, “Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?”