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TIL that Smokey Bear's name was inspired by "Smokey" Joe Martin, a New York firefighter who suffered burns and blindness during a 1922 rescue. Also, the symbol of the U.S. Forest Service is actually just "Smokey Bear," not "Smoke the Bear." The "the" was added to help the rhythm of a 1952 song.

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jllN TIL Charles Darwin was accepted on H.M.S. Beagle because he agreed to search for Noah’s ark and find evidence of the great flood mentioned in the Bible
nWrPB TIL astronomers actually use lasers to project fake stars into the atmosphere, in order to measure & compensate for atmospheric distortions, allowing them a much clearer image of real stars.
wQa6 TIL that none of the couples from “The Bachelor” are still married.
VB0 TIL in the 1931 movie, Frankenstein, the line “Now I know what it feels like to be God!” following “It’s alive! It’s alive!” was censored by audio of a clap of thunder because it was considered blasphemous and was only just restored in 1999, nearly 70 years later.
kkA5 TIL that George Clooney was asked to play himself in a sketch for the Movie 43 (the gag was that Clooney is bad at picking up women), and Clooney replied “No fucking way.”