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TIL the USS Lexington (CV-2) powered the City of Tacoma for a month

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nG7W TIL when Michael Jackson died, overall web traffic increased by up to 20%, websites like Twitter and Wikipedia all crashed and Google initially believed they were under DDoS attack. It is seen as an unprecedented moment in the history of the Internet.
p8Ro4 TIL one of the only reasons the world got Mark Hamill's masterful performance as Luke Skywalker is because Robert Englund (of Freddy Krueger fame) happened to see auditions for A New Hope taking place and suggested to Hamill that he should audition, believing him to be perfect for the role
EgxQx TIL turning over control of the Panama Canal to Panama was a huge controversial emotional issue dividing many Americans in the 1970's
7rR07 TIL that in 1955, evangelist Jack Coe claimed to have divinely healed a three-year-old of polio and told the boy's parents to remove his leg braces. This caused the boy constant pain, but Coe never faced jail time as medical malpractice did not cover divine healing. The next year, Coe died of polio.
rNLm4 TIL that Robert Fulton, developer of the first commercially successful steamboat, was involved in multiple polyamorous relationships. One lover, Joel Barlow, wrote him letters in baby talk threatening to cut off his penis. Fulton asked his wife to join a foursome with the Barlows, but she declined.