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TIL Alcatraz's reputation as a tough as nails prison was a Hollywood myth. Many inmates requested transfer there on account of its good food and one man per cell policy.

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jN1Ej TIL that Ernest “Boots” Thomas, one of the U.S. Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, was able to enlist in spite of being color blind by memorizing the results of another man’s test.
l7RB5 TIL that Canadian serial killer nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer told her pastor that she had murdered four people and the pastor kept his promise not to turn her in. She would go on to murder two others.
4kpaJ TIL that a study has been done to determine the physics of tossing fried rice in a wok.
4XA6N TIL The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the person who wins the decathlon. This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.
6EKn7 TIL: Ingesting around 600 freshly ground cherry pits would provide enough cyanide to kill a 150 lb person