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TIL that eccentric aviator Howard Hughes once paid a gas station employee $156 million after he found Hughes, disheveled and dirty, lying on the highway, and drove him back to his hotel

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R5p64 TIL that the Eiffel Tower in Paris was originally intended to be a temporary exhibit built to celebrate the 1889 world’s fair and was almost torn down and scrapped in 1909.
W7gd8 TIL that minus a few bridges, the majority of Bridges in NYC were built in the 19th century or the early part of the 20th century with the oldest being built 140 years ago.
EeWV TIL that Dick Stuart, one of the worst defensive players in baseball history, once recieved a standing ovation for successfully grabbing a loose hot dog wrapper out of the air.
vQM8 TIL that without the composer’s knowledge, Gene Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the original Star Trek theme in order to claim a 50% share of the music’s performance royalties
KOx9w TIL Centenarians tend to be small people, even allowing for shrinkage & secular growth. Okinawans have the greatest concentration of them, 500/million, the average male of which is just 148.3 cm (4'10½") & female 138.8 cm (4'6 1/2½").