› added 4 years ago

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TIL of a Fake Shemp, a disguised actor that is meant to replace another actor in a film. It's named after Joe Palma standing in for Shemp Howard in the last four Three Stooges shorts after Howard's death.

gRg8 TIL that a game show has tested the idea of fairness across cultures. In the US, the audience helps contestants. In Russia, they purposefully give the wrong answer. In France, they give the wrong answer if they feel the contestant isn’t smart enough to deserve to win the money
W797N TIL that for 1308 years (128 CE - 1436) the dome of the Pantheon has been the largest dome in the world. The new record was then held by the dome of Florence Cathedral for 435 years (1436 - 1871). They both still hold the record for their "category" (unreinforced solid concrete and brick and mortar)
9V56 TIL the creation of Daft Punk’s name originated from a British journalist calling their original band, Darlin’, “a bunch of daft punk”. The third member of Darlin’, not liking the new more-electronic vibe, left and formed the band Phoenix.
Me9dB TIL The only copies of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Beowulf" are unique manuscripts that came from the same private library -- both were nearly destroyed in a fire in 1731,
e7B6 TIL that Peter Popoff, a popular televangelist was caught using a wireless ear piece in which his wife would tell him information about the person he was “healing” in order to create the illusion that he was really healing people. He was exposed by James Randi in 1987 and has since been bankrupt.