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TIL that when quirky theatrical producer David Merrick got bad reviews for his 1961 musical, he found 7 random denizens of New York with names identical to those of 7 top theatre critics. He asked the civilians to talk ecstatically of the musical, then published an ad with their praises and names.

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8kGG TIL at an Amazon.com warehouse in Pennsylvania, workers were required to work – in some cases walking 15 miles a day – in 100+ degree heat. When the news broke, Amazon’s initial response was to keep an ambulance outside the warehouse.
YpLNv TIL that when Steven Spielberg re-enrolled at California State, Long Beach to earn his BA more than 30 years after dropping out, he was given three course credits in paleontology for making Jurassic Park.
gQXX TIL that cockroaches’ exoskeletons allow them to withstand weights up to 900 times their body weight
aXOb TIL: Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President James A. Garfield, chose a .442 caliber British Bulldog revolver with an ivory handle because he thought it would look good in a museum exhibit after the assassination. The revolver has since been lost and its whereabouts are unknown.
a8gMZ TIL in Sept 2023 a grand jury indicted Duane Davis for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur. He allegedly planned and ordered the hit in retaliation for his late nephew, Orlando Anderson, being beaten in a casino earlier that night. He's reportedly the last surviving participant of Shakur's murder.