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TIL an 18kg sapphire was mined in Madagascar in 1995. It was carved into a 61,500 carat crystal featuring 134 different individuals in milestones in human history, paying tribute to humanity.

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d8NLE TIL Robert Blake, star of the 70s detective series "Baretta", was acquitted of his wife's murder in 2005 after a contentious 4-year legal drama. He was, however, found liable by a civil suit brought by his children.
Brjob TIL There is a "Game of Life" which is a 0 player game requiring only an input of initial state of boxes (on/off) on an infinite 2d grid and the boxes evolve into generations creating beautiful patterns by following 4 simple rules that mimic life
lLgV TIL in 2012 a charity dropped off boxes in a remote African village containing Xoom tablets with no instructions. Within 4 minutes a child turned one on. Within 5 days, kids were using 47 apps per child, per day. Within 2 weeks they were singing ABC songs. Within 5 months they had hacked Android.
W7woN TIL; The title, "October Sky", of the 1999 biographical movie about teens studying rocketry as an escape from their coal town was an anagram of the novel it was based on, "Rocket Boys". The novel was then re-released under the title "October Sky" to capitalize on the interest in the movie.
yX8V TIL Anthony Curcio put an ad on Craigslist for 15-20 similarly dressed workers for a fake cleanup project and to meet in a bank parking lot at the time he was to rob an armored truck. Curcio, dressed like the others, worked the grounds, pepper-sprayed the driver, and left with over $400,000.