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TIL The original plans for the Sydney Opera House projected a cost of $7 million and completion date of 26 January 1963. It was finished in 1973, ten years late, and at a cost of $102 million, some 1,500% over budget.

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ANAkd TIL: The mistreatment of African diplomats forced the United States government to clamp down on racism. This would help push the Civil rights act to pass in July 1964.
J1pNm TIL in 1722 Philip Ashton was captured by the pirate Ned Low although he eventually escaped in the spring of 1723 when the pirate landed at uninhabited Roatán island in the Gulf of Honduras. After the pirates stopped looking for him, he proceeded to survive 16 months as a castaway on the island.
BgaEK TIL Pan-Am's first Round-the-World flight was unplanned. The flight's return journey via Hawaii was cancelled after Pearl Harbor was attacked, and with the help of Auckland's library system, a route was plotted to return to America via Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Congo, and Brazil.
R7Ab6 TIL actor Daniel von Bargen, who was known for his roles as Mr. Kruger on Seinfeld, Commandant Edwin Spangler on Malcolm in the Middle, and Chief Grady in Super Troopers shot himself in the temple in 2012 in an apparent suicide attempt
e0yB5 TIL King Norodom is credited for saving Cambodia from disappearing altogether. In 1863, to prevent the two powerful neighbours, Vietnam and Siam from swallowing Cambodia altogether, he was invited by France to make Cambodia its protectorate