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TIL the three Apollo 11 astronauts could not get life insurance for their historic space moon shot. To provide for their families in case of catastrophic failure, they autographed commemorative postcards, a friend had them postmarked the day of the launch and distributed to their families.

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ALQx TIL Sean Connery was originally offered the role of Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings films. He was offered $6 million per movie and a 15% stake in the box office profits. He instead declined the role stating he “never understood the script”. He would have made nearly $450 million had he accepted.
Y7Rar TIL a candidate running for Governor of Tokyo is required to put up three million yen--around $21,500--to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government that will only be returned if they receive at least 10% of the votes.
v16jr TIL that recalling a memory more often makes the memory less accurate.That’s because instead of remembering the actual memory, you’re recalling the memory of the last time you remembered it and any mistakes that might have been introduced there.
pY6LZ TIL that Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot after he couldn’t find comfortable shoes, setting a world record and taking home the gold.
Kb0J TIL that the last Abbasid Caliph failed to use his wealth to raise an army to defend Baghdad from the Mongols. According to Marco Polo, after the city fell the caliph was locked in his treasure room without food and told to “eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it.”