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TIL Alan Turing used to practice his Cambridge lectures in front of a stuffed bear he got in college named Porgy. He kept the bear with him throughout life.

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BrB1D TIL the legendary cyclist Marco Pantani, with a resting heart rate of 34 BPM, had to wake up in the night and cycle on a stationary bike to make sure his heart rate didn't drop too low and cause a heart attack.
b9lx9 TIL that on D Day the crew of the Battleship USS Texas intentionally flooded a torpedo tube in order to cause a 2 degree list, giving their main guns just enough extra elevation to boost their range & hit the target on the mainland.
Avyl TIL not long before his death, Freddie Mercury, confined to his bed, got to see an advance copy of the “Wayne’s World” scene with Wayne and Garth headbanging to “Bohemian Rhapsody”. He loved it and approved of the song’s use in the film. The movie, in part, helped launch Queen’s comeback in the USA
VMXlp TIL about Jasmine Richards, who at 12 years old in 2006, stabbed her little brother to death while her 23 year old boyfriend at the time murdered the her parents. She's the youngest person in Canada to get charged with murder.
oBXxL TIL in 1969 Johnny Carson made a lucky guess about the Oscar winners for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor, that led to firings in PriceWaterhouse since they believed someone had leaked the information.