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TIL Weird Al Yankovic said he knew he’d made it as a famous musician when he went to a party, saw Paul McCartney and before he could introduce himself to the former Beatle, McCartney recognized him and said, “Hey! It’s Weird Al!”

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LQ5AZ TIL: The Great Slave Auction occurred in 1859 and consisted of 436 slaves auctioned over 2 days to over 200 buyers and sightseers. It was heavily advertised and netted over $9.9 million in today's money. It was considered the largest slave auction until 2022, when historians found a larger auction.
N7LGE TIL Jane Goodall's father gave her a stuffed chimpanzee named Jubilee as an alternative to a teddy bear. Goodall has said her fondness for this figure started her early love of animals although"My mother's friends were horrified by this toy, thinking it would frighten me and give me nightmares."
AyMo TIL Willem Arondeus, a gay Dutch artist and writer, helped in the resistance against the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. He was arrested and executed. His last testimony was “homosexuals are not cowards”.
xVJ1B TIL SpaceX launched the remains of 152 people to space with a company called Celestis. That same company sent the ashes of Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek creator) to space as the first-ever space burial, back in 1992. Upcoming missions will send DNA and human ashes even farther, into Deep Space.
a8JBZ TIL Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write ‘America the Beautiful’ after reaching the summit of Pike’s Peak in Colorado