› added 3 years ago

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TIL that the famous author Thomas Pynchon has avoided publicity during his fifty-year career to the point that almost all known photos of him are from the 1950s. However, he voiced himself in two episodes of The Simpsons, where his dialogue consisted entirely of puns on the titles of his books.

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69WvJ TIL Wilt Chamberlain is the reason players have to stay behind the foul line when shooting a free throw. While at KU, thanks to his 7’ height, 7’8” wingspan, and 50” vertical, he would start from top of the key, leap before the foul line, and dunk the ball before he touched the ground in the lane.
woEP TIL a good amount of Bermuda and the Caribbean islands’ land is “African dust”: soil particles that have flown clear across the Atlantic Ocean in dust storms
ndnY TIL that the ban of leaded gasoline is believed to have been a major cause for falling violent crime rates in the United States
KOQwR TIL when Spartans lost the battle of Megalopolis, their king Agis III, now wounded and unable to stand, ordered his men to leave him behind to face Macedonian army so that he could buy his men time to retreat. He slew several enemy soldiers before being finally killed by a javelin.
YpwxA TIL There's a local tradition in Akita Japan called Namahage where grown men dress up like demons to scare children into behaving for their parents. They go from house to house yelling things like "Are there any crybabies at home?" or "Are naughty kids around?"