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TIL after seeing Blade Runner(1982), William Gibson, having written a third of his debut novel Neuromancer, figured he was sunk, since everyone would assume he’d copied his visual texture from the film. Neuromancer went on to be the first novel to win the Nebula, the Hugo, and Philip K. Dick awards.

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00yv TIL Ray Bradbury attributed his habit of daily writing to an encounter as a child with a carnival entertainer, Mr. Electrico, who touched Bradbury on the nose with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end, and shouted, “Live forever!” Bradbury wrote every single day of his life thereafter.
R7Grl TIL On January 13, 1920, a New York Times editorial said rockets could never work in space because in a vacuum there was nothing for them to push against. The paper later said it regretted the error.
Mgg7 TIL that during Prohibition, the US government killed over 10,000 citizens when it deliberately poisoned industrial grain alcohols to deter drinking.
LQExp TIL that Alice Liddell, of "Alice in Wonderland" fame, was once proposed as a potential wife for Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the son of Queen Victoria. Years later, Leopold named his first child "Princess Alice" after her, and he was made the godfather to Alice's second son, Leopold Hargreaves.
xV79o TIL whales earwax acts as a hearing aid. The wax has a similar density to water and allows sound to travel through the ear canal into the inner ear unimpeded—something that would be impossible if the ear was filled with air.