› added 7 months ago

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TIL that when Muhammad Ali first fought Sonny Liston, both fighters were widely disliked by reporters (Ali for his brashness and Liston for his connections to organised crime), leading to sports writer Jim Murray to hope for a double knockout.

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xVeoB TIL the Empire State building in New York stands on the site of the original Astoria hotel, which was built and owned by John Jacob Astor IV. Astor was of the richest men alive in his time, and left behind an estate of $87 million upon his death in 1912. Also, he died on the Titanic.
Lamp TIL Beethoven was once challenged to an improvisation contest by a famous pianist named Daniel Steibelt, Beethoven took the piece Steibelt’s music was written on, turned it upside down, played it, then improvised on that and mocked Daniel through his own music. Daniel left halfway through.
aw8wN TIL "Jizz" is a common term used in bird watching that describes a bird's overall appearance based on shape, posture, flying style, and other habitual movements.
LkQkZ TIL most sharks are ovoviviparous,meaning meaning that the eggs hatch in the oviduct within the mother's body and once born, they are fully independent and will swim away from the mother who may eat them.
gpBX TIL: A caterpillar basically turns into a soupy liquid while in the pupa state before it rearranges itself and turns into a butterfly. The butterfly also retain some of its memories of things learnt as a caterpillar.