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TIL in the decades before World War II, basketball was dominated by Jewish players.

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d8pME TIL Dymphna, patron saint of mental illness, fled from her "mad king" father to Geel, Belgium. She founded an sanctuary for the mentally ill. After her death, the afflicted continued to flock to Geel. Citizens began boarding and caring for them in their homes, a tradition that continues today.
lKj5 TIL George Clooney suffered from Bell’s Palsy while he was in middle school. It only lasted for a year, but he was relentlessly harassed and heckled by his classmates.
woO6E TIL that there is enough space between the moon and the Earth that all of the other planets in our solar system could fit between them.
GYdkg TIL the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer story idea was initially rejected, as in the 1930s red noses were associated with alcoholism and drunkards. The author asked an illustrator friend to draw "cute reindeer," and these drawings convinced management to support the idea.
mxg1v TIL Roddy Piper improvised the "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass.... and I'm all out of bubblegum," line from They Live. John Carpenter told Roddy that he wasn't gonna rob the bank, but he was holding a shotgun and wearing sunglasses, so he needed to say something.