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TIL Einstein named Spinoza as the thinker most influential on his world view. When asked by a Rabbi if he believed in God, he replied "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings."

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R7anw TIL that the "The NeverEnding Story" movie, despite having german producers, a german director and german screenplay authors and being based on a german book, shot mostly in Germany and released in Germany before the US, still was produced in English and features almost exclusively american actors.
4kB6N TIL the Persian Gulf was once a very fertile and inhabited valley having flooded during the start of recorded history during the time of the Sumerians
ADXon TIL that songwriter Esther Dean composed “S&M” for Rihanna, then was later cast as Cynthia Rose in the Pitch Perfect movies. This means in the “riff-off” scene in the first movie, Esther got to sing her own song, but as a completely different person. Full circle.
4knwN TIL Rocky Aoki, founder of Benihana restaurants, didn't know how to cook, was a Hall of Fame Wrestler, won a world title in backgammon, was deep-sea treasure hunter, set a record for the longest balloon flight, raced cars and boats, founded a softcore porn mag and is DJ Steve Aoki's dad.
mYAo TIL that the Matrix was so heavily influenced by Anime “Ghost in the Shell” on a scene by scene basis, that they actually asked permission from it’s creator before creating the matrix. Here is a video comparison.