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TIL it is said that René Descartes René constructed an automaton in his daughter's likeness after she died of scarlet fever; only to have the robot Francine smashed and thrown overboard as a work of Satan during a voyage at sea.

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jk1Q TIL that John Cusack once asked his agent to present him with the “craziest, most unproduceable script you can find.” His agent presented “Being John Malkovich”. Impressed with the script, Cusack auditioned and won a role in the film
ANWvg TIL that scientists showed Panda Pornography videos to Panda to check the side effects of Viagra
Eg61w TIL about the $50 science kit that had real Uranium. The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab (1950s) was meant for kids. The kit included a cloud chamber for viewing particle physics, a Geiger counter for monitoring radiation levels and measuring radioactive decay, as well as radioactive ore.
VMalQ TIL Sigmund Freud considered believing in a single god to be a delusion. He also stated that religion "comprises a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find in an isolated form nowhere else but amentia, in a state of blissful hallucinatory confusion".
kOoj1 TIL in 1984, a pipe-fitter for a uranium core processing plant in Ohio was discovered in a processing furnace. At the time the plant was discovered dumping a massive amount of radioactive waste into the atmosphere. Co-workers of the deceased worker suspected he was a whistleblower and was murdered.