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TIL Emerson Romero was a silent film actor who was deaf. When movies with sound were invented, deaf actors got less roles and the intertitle text was removed. This led him to make an early form of movie captioning in 1947 so that movies would still be accessible to deaf people.

Brpry TIL the creator of "Charging Bull" on Wall Street meant for it to be a symbol of optimism after the stock market crashes in 1980. Placing the "Fearless Girl" in front of the bull changed the latter's meaning.
618J TIL that on September 11th 1973, US-backed General Pinochet overthrew the democratically elected leader of Chile, Salvadore Allende. Pinochet ordered an air strike on the Presidential Palace, labor activists and famous folk guitarists were rounded up for torture, disappeared, and killed.
LQOvQ TIL the band Yo La Tengo once reenacted the entire "The Chinese Restaurant" episode of "Seinfeld" live. This was part of their 2011 tour where the first half of every show was decided by a wheel of fortune spun by an audience member. Link includes a video of this moment.
vPLgL TIL The Boston Globe was bought by the New York Times in 1993 for $1.1 billion, one of the most expensive print purchases in history, then was sold for $70 million in 2013 to the Red Sox/Liverpool owner. It lost 90% of its value in 20 years.
VMOZ0 TIL that in 2012, a “guru” tricked a French family out of €4.5M by convincing them that they were the target of a secret conspiracy and that their lives were in danger. He persuaded them into barricading themselves into their family chateau, and then in a suburban house in Oxford.