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17

TIL Aretha Williams, was given up as a child and informally adopted by Bailey and Mary Jane Robinson. At 15, Aretha became pregnant by Bailey, her adoptive father, and gave birth to music legend Ray Charles. After divorcing Bailey, Mary Jane helped raise Ray alongside Aretha.

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neQO7 TIL sometimes Spitfires had to taxi to the take-off position with a person sat on the tail. In 1945 a pilot forgot about this and took-off with mechanic Margaret Horton clinging on the tail. The pilot realized that his aircraft wasn't handling correctly and landed with Miss Horton still on the tail
m1vJp TIL There's a tiny Polish village called Zalipie, where everything is painted with pictures of flowers. Originally, the paintings were meant to cover up the blackened walls left behind by soot from chimneys. But soon, they became a tradition
8eyMZ TIL that the number of Chinese restaurants in the United States surpasses that of McDonald's and KFC, totaling approximately 45,000, which underscores the popularity of Chinese cuisine within American culture.
lodPV TIL about Benson rafts, huge rafts up to 1000 feet long made of thousands of logs lashed together that used to be floated across 1,100 miles of open ocean from the mouth of the Columbia River to San Diego as a cheaper alternative to sending the logs by rail.
DQMOv TIL Wicked became the first Broadway show in history to gross $5 million in a single week (nine performances), surpassing the previous record of $4.3 million held by The Lion King.