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TIL Jim Varney caught the attention of Disney exec Michael Eisner at the Indy 500 in 1985 after appearing as "Ernest" and getting a much bigger reception than even Mickey Mouse, stunning Eisner. Varney had appeared in hundreds of commercials but this led to his first movie "Ernest Goes to Camp"

d8eRB TIL trauma which happens to adolescents causes significant, lasting changes to the brain resulting in life-long PTSD, increased cortisol, increased amygdala function, and decreased medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate function which lasts into late adulthood.
N7rK8 TIL Canada's nuclear reactors (CANDU) are designed to use decommissioned nuclear weapons as fuel and can be refueled while running at full power. They're considered among the safest and the most cost effective reactors in the world.
b189 TIL the only photos taken at the moment Robert Kennedy was shot were seized by the LAPD, ordered sealed for 20 years, and when finally set to be released were stolen from the car of the courier transporting them
rN0 TIL: In 1976 there was a wine tasting in Paris that blindly compared Californian wines to French wines. California won and the lone reporter covering the event was blacklisted for reporting it.
QJBna TIL the 1959 film "The Tingler" was about a parasite that causes tingling sensations in victims. The films producers rigged surplus WWII aircraft motors to random theater seats, so viewers would "feel the tingler" when it attacked. Some viewers were also paid to pretend to scream and faint