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TIL A world famous violinist played in a D.C. subway on a $3.5 million violin, just days after performing in Boston’s Symphony Hall. He played pieces only a handful of people in the world can play. After 43 minutes of playing he made $32.17 and some even threw pennies.

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nepld TIL that 20 years before the first woman was democratically elected in 1980 as president of a country (namedly Iceland), stateswoman Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) was elected as prime minister, when she led her party to victory at the 1960 general election.
6J1Y TIL J. Paul Getty refused to pay for his grandson’s ransom. When an ear arrived by mail and the kidnappers lowered the sum to $3m instead of $17m, he agreed to pay only $2.2 million - the maximum amount that would be tax deductible. He lent his son the remaining $800.000, at a 4% interest.
VNjk TIL that glass that has been treated with a LASER to create micro-cracks and coated with polyurethane, inspired by nacre (mother of pearl), becomes 200 times stronger
R7vr7 TIL about Almon Brown Strowger. Strowger's undertaking business was losing clients to a competitor whose telephone-operator wife was redirecting everyone who called for Strowger. Motivated to remove the intermediary operator, he invented the first automatic telephone exchange in 1889.
yQjYw TIL about Special Forces intel officer COL James N. Rowe who was a POW in the Vietnam War. Rowe spent 62 months in captivity, battled numerous diseases, solved engineering problems to disguise he was an intel officer, and escaped via helicopter by over-powering the guards.