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TIL a man named Ed Thorpe figured out how to count cards in blackjack before anyone else. He then used his winnings and his quantitative strategies to open one of the most successful hedgefunds of all time. Oh—he also invented the first wearable computer!

grxN7 TIL that in 2021, an organization called The Tip Project attempted to introduce American practices of gratuity into Japanese culture. The plan was met with severe backlash from locals who deemed the practice "un-Japanese", and the project was abandoned in early 2023.
69LwZ TIL: There was a German medical study on Shuriken (ninja stars) wounds. They used pig carcasses while researchers threw a cyclone shuriken, a plastic one, and a traditional one. All 3 were capable of inflicting fatal wounds. This study served to promote discussion on the German shuriken ban of 1980.
96GM TIL that in the film, “This is the End”, Michael Cera slapping Rihanna’s butt was real. Cera asked for Rihanna’s permission to actually slap her butt. She agreed, only if she was allowed to slap Cera back even harder in the face.
4JQ5 TIL that Stephen Hawking is the only person who has portrayed himself in Star Trek. Specifically, in a poker game between Hawking, Einstein, Newton, and Data.
0dpMy TIL that the creators and writers of John Constantine have reported seeing him in real life. Alan Moore even claimed that Constantine told him "I'll tell you the ultimate secret of magic. Any c*nt could do it."