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TIL that in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson had wrote,“We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.” It was Benjamin Franklin who changed “sacred” to “self-evident” to champion rationality as opposed to religious providence

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MgRA TIL there is no evidence that iron maidens were invented in the Middle Ages or even used for torture. Instead they were pieced together in the 18th century from several artifacts found in museums in order to create spectacular objects intended for (commercial) exhibition.
ANx7B TIL that two of the Apollo missions carried seismic experiments that fired rocket propelled grenades up to 1500 meters. Five of the grenades remain on the moon, unexploded.
69dyw TIL The lines "No man is an island" and "...for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." Both come from Meditation XVII of John Donne's Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. Donne quickly wrote his meditations following a terrible illness.
bnZ TIL John Lennon was offered the role of Jesus in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” but would only accept on the condition that Yoko played Mary Magdalene. The offer was then withdrawn.
1EPV TIL John Lasseter was fired from Disney in 1983 for pushing too hard for computer animation. When Disney bought Pixar in 2006, Lasseter was given a $5 million signing bonus, a $2.5 million salary, and control of all Disney’s animation projects.