› added 10 years ago

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TIL Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong’s cranky old grandfather, was actually the original antagonist from the 1981 arcade game

Wk4Zd TIL that in November of 1999, Kevin Smith attended a protest against his own movie: "Dogma." He even made it onto the local news, when the on-the-scene reporter asked him (not knowing it it was him) his thoughts on the movie. He responded: "I don't know, but I've been told, 'not good.'"
QJew6 TIL that Solitary Bees can pollinate exponentially more flowers than honey bees and there are many important bees that live alone not in a colony
XEPeX TIL Oscar Wilde was a wildly popular Irish writer in the late 1800's. A rival hired a detective to catch him in "acts of sodomy and gross indecency". He served 2 years hard labor in prison for his "crimes". He suffered terribly and almost starved to death. He died at age 46.
yVnoe TIL about Terra Australis, a hypothetical continent proposed in antiquity and appearing on maps from the 15th to 18th centuries. Based on the idea of balancing northern lands with southern ones, it shrank as explorations occurred. The name "Australia" stems from this centuries-old geographical myth.
9w8RQ TIL Bruce Springsteen originally wrote the song "Hungry Heart" for the Ramones at the request of Joey Ramone, but ended up keeping and recording the song himself on the advice of his producer and manager, Jon Landau. It became Springsteen's first big hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #5.