› added 9 years ago

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TIL that Hans and Margret Rey, two jews, fled Paris in 1940 on bicycles Hans had built. They escaped just hours before the Nazis seized Paris. Among the few possessions they carried was the illustrated manuscript of the first Curious George book, which they would later get published in New York.

awl7o TIL that Julia Child’s first job was with the US Office of Strategic Services (predecessor to the CIA) during WWII. One of her accomplishments was developing a recipe for shark repellant for the OSS. Her husband was also OSS when they met. The CIA has released her files to the public.
m7gR TIL Trey Parker (Co-creator of South Park) has an autographed picture of Saddam Hussein in his office.
DVYP TIL Jason Mitchell, the actor that played Eazy E in ‘Straight Outta Compton’, couldn’t afford to fly out to Los Angeles for a callback audition. The director, F. Gary Gray, liked what he saw on his audition tape so he settled for a Skype meeting and Jason landed the part.
E1NkX TIL Handel composed Messiah in an interlude, somewhere between three and four weeks in August and September 1741. "He would literally write from morning to night". Mozart confessed himself to be humble in the face of Handel's genius
6mPm TIL that upscale steakhouses use dry-aged beef where the beef is hung on a rack to dry for several weeks. This process evaporates moisture in the muscles and promotes enzymatic breakdown of connective tissue which together yields very flavorful meat.