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TIL an autodidact with limited formal education, Joseph Stalin was a voracious reader, amassing a personal library of over 20,000 books, with a particular interest in history. He enjoyed classical music, owned around 2,700 records, and often attended the Bolshoi Theatre.

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b6o60 TIL that special effects had to be employed in The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese's film of The Band's farewell concert, due to a visible amount of cocaine being present on Neil Young's nose during his performance.
XEmmQ TIL the day Jimi Hendrix died, Eric Clapton had bought a left-handed Fender Stratocaster as a gift for him. He intended on presenting it during a Sly Stone concert at the Lyceum that night, but Hendrix never showed up. The next day, Clapton learned why.
QJypM TIL Michael Jackson got $2 for every Thriller album sold. Which was one of the highest royalty rates of that time.
7QZ7 TIL Kevin Hines who jumped from the Golden Gate bridge survived because, as he fell toward the water, decided that he wanted to live after all, and positioned himself so he hit the water feet first. He suffered serious injuries but was kept afloat by a black seal swimming below.
Bk9k TIL that Filip Konowal, a Canadian WW1 veteran and Victoria Cross recipient, upon discovering that a bootlegger had viciously beaten a friend of his, disarmed the man and stabbed him to death. Konowal later told police: “I’ve killed fifty-two of them, that makes the fifty-third.”