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TIL That Terry Pratchett changed German publishers because Heyne inserted a soup advert into the text of one of his novels and wouldn't promise not to do it again.

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mxdrY TIL:Cats "Blep," or stick their tongue out when they are further analyzing interesting scents.
BQGW TIL one of the undisputed fathers of computer science helped develop crypto analytical devices to fight the Nazis. His reward; a criminal conviction for homosexuality and forced chemical castration. Within 1 year he became impotent, developed breasts due to hormonal imbalance, and committed suicide.
R7Nxl TIL telling ghost stories around a fire was originally a Christmas Eve tradition. Beginning with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" it was an annual tradition throughout the Victorian Era and only changed when Halloween became popular in the 1920s.
9Yb4M TIL that the area code 3-2-1 was assigned to Brevard County,FL to allude to the countdown sequence of the spacecrafts that launch from Cape Canaveral.
m9NM TIL after Sitting Bull was released from prison, he joined the Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show making $50 per week for riding once around the arena. Quickly getting annoyed with the audience, he quit and returned to his people saying “I would rather die an Indian than live a white man.”