› added 9 years ago

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TIL that the author of FIGHT CLUB came up with the foundation of the novel after being beaten up on a camping trip when he complained to nearby campers about the noise of their radio. When he returned to work, nobody would acknowledge his injuries instead asking things like “How was your weekend?”

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via reddit.com

nek6B TIL that an exasperated village in West Virginia asked the Soviets for help to replacing a bridge after being ignored by the American government. The Soviets sent a journalist to investigate and within one hour the American government finally agreed to pay for it
b99KE TIL that Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, together with Mobe, attempted to perform an exorcism on the Pentagon and to levitate the building 300 feet into the air. At least 30 000 people partook.
Brk0K TIL that Christopher Nolan was so secretive about Interstellar that he initially asked Hans Zimmer to compose the score with just a one-page story about a father who leaves his child to do an important job instead of giving him the script. It contained two lines of dialogue: "I'll come back & when?"
Z85Xa TIL the Banana Stand on Arrested Development was based on a real business run by the creator of the show Mitch Hurwitz
E1Xbd TIL Paddy Chayefsky, author of cult film 'Network', was hugely successful in the 50s but by the 70s was out of work, forgotten, and suicidal. The legendary 'Mad as Hell' speech was his own personal thoughts, and reflected his own view of the world at that time.