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TIL film critic Gene Siskel went to great lengths to show his contempt for the original Friday the 13th movie. He called the film’s director a “despicable creature,” published the address of Paramount’s chairman so people would write hate mail, and spoiled the film’s ending for his readers.

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RRQ1 TIL the United States and New Zealand are the only countries that allow direct-to-consumer advertisement of pharmaceuticals
R78w4 When you look at sporting achievements over the last decades, it seems like humans have gotten faster, better and stronger in nearly every way. Yet as David Epstein points out in this delightfully counter-intuitive talk, we might want to lay off the self-congratulation. Many factors are at play in shattering athletic records, and the development of our natural talents is just one of them.
ak6Z TIL In 1575, a German mass murderer nicknamed Puschpeter is reported to have kept his wits after being impaled. The stake hit his spine and he berated the executioner. Puschpeter commanded the executioner to draw the stake out of him and gave instructions for how to make the impalement properly.
nWGd TIL that Christopher Columbus ran a sex slave ring among other atrocities.
a81Ay TIL that tornado alley is shifting east. Over the last 40 years or so, the frequency of tornado outbreaks in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska has declined by about 10%, while in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky it has increased by roughly the same amount