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TIL the woman who first proposed the theory that Shakespeare wasn't the real author, didn't do any research for her book and was eventually sent to an insane asylum

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wLjpE TIL 80% of males born in the Soviet Union in 1923 did not survive World War II.
EgbQd TIL that Carl Weathers landed the part of Apollo Creed after reading scenes with Rocky writer Sylvester Stallone. He wrapped up his audition by saying (about Stallone) "I could do a lot better if you got me a real actor to work with."
WkQa4 TIL that the Count in Sesame Street does not count all the time to teach children numbers! In folklore, vampires had arithmomania, or an obsession with numbers. This derives from the old superstition that throwing poppy seeds on the ground stopped vampires because they had to count them all first.
E1XR7 TIL Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman were classmates at the Pasadena Playhouse, where they were both voted "Least Likely To Succeed".
kO1eB TIL that humans and mushrooms share a common ancestor from 1150 million years ago, and we are closer to them than to bananas - which we share a common ancestor with from 1624 million years ago.