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TIL Alan Rickman almost turned down his first film role - Hans Gruber in Die Hard; changed his mind and suggested wearing a suit and pretending to be a hostage

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JQBQ TIL In the days immediately before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US military air-dropped millions of leaflets into 33 different Japanese cities, warning that some or all of these cities would be bombed within the next few days, and instructed them to evacuate immediately.
9Yg1B TIL Rifles like the AK-47 have curved magazines because their bullet cases are conical (a.k.a "tapered") rather than cylindrical. Thus, they stack in a curve. Tapered cases have less friction with the chamber when they feed or extract.
6wlm TIL that Martin Seligman proved that people with a pessimistic explanatory style are more likely to develop depression. He also proved that, with some work, people can teach themselves a more optimistic explanatory style.
WkN49 TIL that sleep literally cleans your brain. During slumber, more cerebrospinal fluid flushes through the brain to wash away harmful proteins and toxins that build up during the day.
9YJb7 TIL of the only man in recorded history to be diagnosed a dwarf AND a giant. At age 18 he was 4 ft, and later in life due to a pituitary tumor he grew to be 7ft tall.