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TIL "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (or "Black National Anthem") was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday by John Rosamond Johnson.

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aw4xL TIL before making Rocky, Sylvester Stallone was so poor that he sold his dog for $40 just to have money for food. After selling the screenplay he bought his dog back for $15000.
nekJ9 TIL NYPD officer John Perry was turning in his retirement papers on 9/11 when the first plane struck. He asked for his badge back and ran to help. He was killed while assisting a woman in the south tower as it collapsed.
woZvM TIL Fireflies produce light in special organs in their abdomens by combining a chemical called luciferin, enzymes called luciferases, oxygen and the fuel for cellular work, ATP. Entomologists think they control their flashing by regulating how much oxygen goes to their light-producing organs.
DANJ TIL: In 1946, the United States offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100,000,000 but Denmark did not agree to sell.
ny09 TIL in 2008, as part of a float, Rick Astley “Rick Roll’d” the entire Macy’s Day Parade.