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TIL When Michael Jackson was angry at one of the producers on a project because he was treating everyone terribly, rather than create a scene or fire the guy, Michael called him to his office and one of the security guards threw a pie in his face.

r05w TIL Buster Keaton (“a master of conveying action through imagery alone”) and Charlie Chaplin had a friendly rivalry over who could use the fewest intertitles in their silent movies. Typical silents averaged 240 intertitles. Chaplin won with a low of 21; Buster got as low as 23.
ADDyl TIL in November 1783, when he was in Paris, Benjamin Franklin witnessed the flight of one of the first hot-air balloons. As the balloon soared into the air, a spectator asked Franklin what this new invention could be used for. Franklin responded by saying “What good is a new-born baby?”
yEZX TIL The Indian Army during World War II began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in August 1945
AvN7 TIL of Argos, Odysseus’s dog in the works of Homer. After 20 years of waiting for Odysseus to return home, the dog is the only one to recognize him, he wags his tail and Odysseus sheds a tear, and Argos dies after meeting him one last time.
16oo8 TIL The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was only caught because he sent a 35,000 word essay to the FBI explaining his motives and views, which helped to identify him. Before that, he had been operating for 17 years with the FBI having very little idea or leads to his identity.