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TIL In 1964, the inventor Karl Kroyer once filled a sunken ship with 27 million plastic balls to make it lighter and easy to remove. He then tried to patent the idea but failed as examiner found the same method used by Donald duck in a comic book in 1949, 15 years before.

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oBVWA TIL the organizers of the 2012 Olympics asked The Who's manager about the possibility of drummer Keith Moon playing at the event. The manager replied that Moon was residing at the Golders Green crematorium, having lived up to the line "I hope I die before I get old". Keith Moon died in 1978.
yQOgw TIL of Clive Wearing, who is incapable of forming new memories, and thus every 20 to 30 seconds has the experience of waking from a coma. He keeps a diary, and page after page is filled with some variation of the same text: "Now I am awake."
d8ajK TIL that in Germany, a doctor diagnosed a case of cobalt poisoning because the symptoms matched a case shown in an episode of Dr. House, and that he wrote a book on how to apply Dr. House's diagnosis in real life.
rELd TIL - The Bohemian Club holds an annual party in the Bohemian Grove in which members surround a 40 foot Owl Shrine with the voice of Walter Cronkite for a secret ceremony. Every republican U.S. president since 1923 has been a member of club.
P1K6g TIL Karpov vs. Kasparov, World Chess Championship 1984 match lasted for five months & five days. FIDE President Florencio Campomanes unilaterally terminated the match, citing the players' health despite both players wanting to continue. Karpov is said to have lost 10 kg over the course of the match.