› added 8 years ago

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TIL Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in the Lord of The Rings trilogy. He was offered 15% of worldwide box-office receipts, totaling close to $400 million. He turned it down due to “not understanding the script”.

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ADvdl TIL The city of Washington D.C. launched a manhunt for "Jimmy," an 8-year-old heroin addict profiled in a Pulitzer-winning article. Mayor Marion Barry announced that Jimmy had been found and was being treated, which was revealed to be a lie after the entire article was also revealed as a lie
r7Re TIL of “Montreal’s Night of Terror”, a sort of real-life Purge with bank robberies and looting, as the Montreal police went on a 16 hour strike.
d8w58 TIL the founder of Yamaha carried his first prototype reed organ over his shoulder on a pole (by foot!) through the mountains on his way to show it off at the Tokyo Music Institute. After it was criticized harshly, Yamaha studied music theory for months in order to deliver an improved prototype.
neOlG TIL of Motts Tonelli, a Notre Dame fullback who ran in the winning TD against USC in 1937. 5 years later in 1942 he had his class ring confiscated during the Bataan Death March. A Japanese officer returned his ring, telling Tonelli that he was US-educated and recognized him from his time at USC.
jM9M TIL Scientists are working on a technology where the road can charge electric cars as they drive on it.