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TIL that James Michael Tyler only got the role of Gunther the barista in 'Friends' because he was the only extra who actually knew how to use a cappuccino machine. He would go on to portray the character in 144 of the show's 238 episodes, and he still receives residuals from his work on the show.

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WkEXd TIL Dr Jack Kevorkian, aka "Dr Death", successfully researched transfusing blood from corpses into living patients. He presented his findings to the Pentagon as a means to help save lives in Viet Nam. However, he was denied funds to continue his research and his process was never adopted.
eJb6 TIL Ashton Kutcher is the co-founder of Thorn. Thorn is a company outsourced by the FBI to catch pedophiles and stop sex trafficking.
L8YQ TIL Alabama has one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America, and is known as “America’s Amazon”.
MegL8 TIL during the tornado outbreak of 1974, forecasters in Indiana, frustrated because they could not keep up with all of the simultaneous tornado activity, put the entire state under a blanket tornado warning. This was the only time in U.S. history that an entire state was under a tornado warning.
58on TIL The British had an opportunity to merge with France when French Prime Minister Mollet offered in 1956, with Queen Elizabeth as head of state and having common citizenship, but turned it down, leading to France helping start the European Union.