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TIL that after his crew on the USS Tangier performed dismally on a training exercise in Pearl Harbor, Captain Clifton Sprague told them "We’re not prepared. We can’t trust the Japanese. How do you know the Japanese won’t attack tomorrow?" The next day, December 7th, the Japanese attacked.

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LeYP TIL that Richard Harris, the first actor to play Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series did not originally want to play the character due to his poor health, but was encouraged to by his 11-year-old granddaughter when she threatened never to speak to him again if he did not.
6KGm TIL wasabi is typically a mix of European horseradish, mustard, and food coloring as authentic wasabi loses flavor in 15 minutes
E1OJo TIL there is an evolutionary recent type of parasitic plant, some of which are orchid species, that cannot do photosynthesis anymore. Instead they grow underground for several years before emerging with stems and pale colorless flowers. They obtain all their nutrients by parasitizing mushrooms.
M4AA TIL a charging elephant broke down the door and a wall of a home in India, but immediately stopped when it heard a baby crying. It then removed the debris from the child using its trunk and peacefully returned to the forest.
KOpla TIL President Kennedy's daughter Caroline was given a puppy by the Soviets in 1961. The puppy's mother, Strelka, had earlier been launched into space during Sputnik. JFK's Thank You letter to the Soviets opened a channel of communication that helped divert the Cuban Missile Crisis 16 months later.