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TIL: Spielburg thought the 5 notes used to communicate with the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a science fiction version of "When you wish upon a star" and included that song in the end credits, which was pulled when test audiences reacted poorly.

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78oKM TIL in 1865, one of the first automobile laws in the UK imposed a 4mph speed limit and required someone to walk ahead of the vehicle waving a red flag
a875J TIL of the US Librarian of Congress. Appointed by the President and serving a term of ten years, they are the head of the Library of Congress with a broad range of responsibilities. Incumbent Carla Hayden appointed in 2016, is both the first African American and woman to hold the office.
xLy0 TIL that the company that makes the Etch a Sketch was on the verge of bankruptcy when it agreed to let its drawing toy be featured in Toy Story 2. Although the scene featuring an Etch a Sketch was only 12 seconds long, it resulted in a 20 percent sales bump that helped to save the company.
rMM4 TIL that the original creator of the Barbie doll had previously designed military-grade missiles
neJ6d TIL of Lorenc Peter Elfred Freuchen was a 6’7” tall walrus-spearing, peg-legged, anti-Semite-clobbering Danish explorer and badass old-school 1900s explorer who escaped certain death by molding his own faeces into a knife and using it to carve through a solid wall of ice.