› added 7 years ago

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[TIL] that the Muppets first big break was on The Jimmy Dean Show (the sausage guy) from 1963-66. Rowlf the dog had a 7-10 minute spot with Jimmy every episode. Jim Henson was so grateful he offered Dean 40% of the Muppets, but he turned it down saying he didn't earn it.

grAo7 TIL that "Total Eclipse of the Heart," performed by Bonnie Tyler, was originally titled "Vampires in Love." Songwriter Jim Steinman wrote it while working on a musical of Nosferatu, with lyrics about the power of darkness and love's place in the dark.
p5oQ TIL a sailor who wishes to grow a beard in the Royal Navy has to submit a ‘permission to stop shaving’ form. He is then allowed two weeks to ‘grow a full set’ before he presents himself to the Master at Arms who will decide if his beard looks stupid or is respectably full enough to be permitted.
ep4OE TIL about pink-slime journalism, when untrustworthy American news networks disguise themselves as local news outlets. Over 1,000 pink-slime news outlets exist, pretending to be locally-run but producing low-quality news from afar that's meant to benefit a political party.
loYxN TIL because Western music were so hard to come by in Soviet Russia, a counter culture known as the “stilyagi” began developing bootleg vinyl records from X-rays—also known as “bones”—that they would then sell on the black market. Getting caught with one resulted in 3-5 years in a hard labor camp.
4agR TIL a Louisville man was acquitted of killing his girlfriend. 6 mos later, rolls of film were found in his former home with photos of him torturing and murdering her. Double jeopardy prevented a retrial, but he was charged with perjury for testifying that he didn’t do it