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TIL the Pearl Jam song "Alive" written by Eddie Vedder is loosely based on the fact that he learned the man who he thought was his real father was actually his stepfather and his biological father had already passed away.

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ADvra TIL of Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB archivist who kept a vast collection of handwritten notes on top secret files. When he defected to British Intelligence in 1992, he brought six trunks of notes with him that exposed most KGB activities in the West during the Cold War
oBLPY TIL Coldplay's 'Fix You' was written by Chris Martin for Gwyneth Paltrow after her father died.
nekpP TIL FEMA tweeted a 1-800 phone sex talk line when they meant to tweet a 1-888 Hurricane Irma helpline. They soon tweeted the correct one, but some hurricane victims had already dialed in to hear: “Welcome to America’s hottest talk line. Guys, hot ladies are waiting to talk to you."
yMdp TIL that there is no freight rail crossing of the Hudson River south of Albany, so any train travelling south from NYC must take a 280-mile detour or float across on barges
wLPP6 TIL that a 6 year old boy acknowledged by the Dalai Lama as the next "Panchen Lama", the 2nd highest Tibetan spiritual leader, was kidnapped by China in March 1995. He was replaced by the son of members of the Chinese Communist Party. China has not mentioned the boy since May 1995.