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TIL John Corcoran graduated from highschool and college at a reading level of 2nd grade. In spite of this, he taught high school for 17 years and did real estate for 10 years without getting caught. At 48, he received tutoring from a volunteer literacy program, and became a literacy advocate.

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J1l0v TIL that there are "black companies" in Japan infamous for their shady business practices such as unpaid overtime, verbal abuse and harassment, forcing their employees to work in weekends/holidays and not even letting them quit by threatening to sue or even discredit them at their new workplace
9Vdm TIL Stephen Fry claims to know the true reason for Douglas Adams choosing 42 as the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Saying it’s “fascinating, extraordinary and, when you think hard about it, completely obvious.” Alas, he also says he’ll take the true meaning to his grave.
Gy1N TIL that the first non-Caucasian pro basketball player, Wataru Misaka, later declined an offer because the “salary for a rookie and the salary for a starting engineer weren’t much different.”
9wgBX TIL Thai names are long and complex because each family has a unique surname restricted by blood, and descriptive first names are believed to have spiritual advantages. In parallel, Thais also have short nicknames that are not derived from their legal names.
8ag7Z TIL 26-yr-old Henry David Thoreau accidentally set fire to over 300 acres of forest where he was to build his famous Walden Pond shack when he & his buddy failed to beat back flames from the fire they set to cook fish they'd caught. Townsfolk called Thoreau a “damned rascal” & “a flibbertigibbet.”