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TIL that in 1773 a man named Wolraad Woltemade saved 14 people stranded on a sinking ship by riding his horse, Vonk, out into the water to fetch them. Upon reaching the ship the seventh time the horse was exhausted. Wolraad, Vonk and those clinging onto him all drowned.

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Z8Nd4 TIL Otis Redding's widow, Zelma Redding, wrote a letter to Michael Bolton saying his cover of "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" was her favorite. She remarked that it brought tears to her eyes as it reminded her so much of her husband. Bolton had the letter framed and it hangs on his office wall.
46a TIL that when a supermarket tabloid accused a U.S. Senator of being an alien from another planet, his office responded to the allegations in the Associated Press with the phrase “klaatu barada nikto”.
N7XXb TIL when The Human Centipede was released, TV3 news in New Zealand interviewed a doctor if the human centipede was medically possible.
LkoLp TIL that The Big Beat, a 1980 song by Billy Squier, has been sampled in more than 260 recordings including Jay-Z's “99 Problems”, Alicia Keys' “Girl on Fire” and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Higher Ground". The original song never charted.
ADyel TIL about the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which is the only environmental treaty signed by every country in the world to stop the depletion of the ozone layer. Thanks to the treaty, 98% of ozone-depleting substances have been phased out and 2 million people are saved from skin cancer each year.